President Ram Nath Kovind dismisses plea seeking disqualification of 27 AAP MLAs

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got a huge relief on Thursday as President Ram Nath Kovind, taking cognisance of the opinion of the Election Commission, dismissed a plea seeking disqualification 27 of its legislators in Delhi for allegedly holding Office of Profit.

In its opinion, dated July 10, 2018, forwarded to the President, the Commission had quashed all allegations related to Office of Profit against 27 AAP MLAs.

Taking cognisance of a petition filed by one Vibhor Anand in October 2016, the EC had issued notice to the 27 MLAs. The petitioner had sought disqualification of the MLAs for allegedly holding Office of Profit as chairpersons of Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKSs) of different government hospitals in Delhi without any sanctity of law.

According to an order issued by the Delhi government's Health and Family Welfare Department on April 26, the RKSs (Patient Welfare Committees) are advisory in nature, which assist health facilities, develop, and customise strategies among others.

In its eight-page order, the Commission noted that a RKS in a hospital falls under the exempted category as per item 14 of the Schedule of the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act- 1997 and therefore opines that the respondents (AAP MLAs) are not disqualified for holding Office of Profit.

Welcoming President Kovind's decision, AAP said the move defeated the BJP's attempt at undermining constitutional institutions in the country. The party also expressed its gratitude towards the President for upholding the constitutional dignity.