EC to examine HC verdict in parliament secretaries case

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Thursday said it will examine the Delhi High Court verdict on the appointment 21 AAP MLAs as parliamentary secretaries to ascertain whether it will have an impact on a case of profit against the same lawmakers.

“We will have to study whether the high court order has been issued on a retrospective basis,” a senior EC official said.

“Only then can the commission decide whether it will have an impact on the ongoing cases of disqualification against the MLAs,” the official said.

But one view in the commission is that the proceedings in the high court and the EC are on different issues— the first dealing with appointment of MLAs as parliamentary secretaries and other seeking their disqualification for allegedly holding office of profit.

Experts said in that case, the court verdict will have no impact on the case before the EC. But the panel is yet to take a call on it.

The high court order came around a month after it held that the L-G was the administrative head of Delhi and his concurrence was “mandatory” in administrative issues.

The EC on August 29 reserved its order on a plea by 21 AAP legislators, who had questioned the maintainability of a petition seeking their disqualification for holding the post of parliamentary secretaries which was alleged to be an office of profit.