Twenty Members of Legislative Assembly of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today moved the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/disqualified-aap-mlas-withdraw-plea-in-hc-to-file-fresh-ones-30419">Delhi High Court again</a> against their disqualification for holding an office of profit by the Election Commission of India with the assent of the President.

The lawmakers sought a quashing of the government&#39;s notification which disqualified them as members of Delhi Legislative Assembly, PTI reported.

In a huge setback to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, the Election Commission&#39;s recommendation for their disqualification was approved by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 21.

The Election Commission had recommended their disqualification for holding the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 2015 and September 2016, considered as holding an office of profit.

The disqualified lawmakers yesterday withdrew their pleas from Delhi High Court challenging the Election Commission&#39;s recommendation which had got the assent of the President.

The MLAs had said that they would move fresh petitions against the taking away of their assembly seats as their pleas had become infructuous after President Ram Nath Kovind put a stamp of approval on the EC&#39;s recommendation.

The lawmakers sought a quashing of the government's notification which disqualified them as members of Delhi Legislative Assembly for holding an office of profit

Twenty Members of Legislative Assembly of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today moved the Delhi High Court again against their disqualification for holding an office of profit by the Election Commission of India with the assent of the President. The lawmakers sought a quashing of the government's notification which disqualified them as members of Delhi Legislative Assembly, PTI reported. In a huge setback to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, the Election Commission's recommendation for their disqualification was approved by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 21. The Election Commission had recommended their disqualification for holding the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 2015 and September 2016, considered as holding an office of profit. The disqualified lawmakers yesterday withdrew their pleas from Delhi High Court challenging the Election Commission's recommendation which had got the assent of the President. The MLAs had said that they would move fresh petitions against the taking away of their assembly seats as their pleas had become infructuous after President Ram Nath Kovind put a stamp of approval on the EC's recommendation.

20 AAP MLAs again move Delhi High Court against their disqualification

The disqualified Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs today claimed in the Delhi High Court that they were held guilty of holding office of profit by the Election Commission (EC) without giving them an opportunity to explain their stand.

The MLAs, all 20 of whom have now filed a plea in the high court against their disqualification, submitted before a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar that the poll panel had sent its opinion to President Ram Nath Kovind by &quot;flouting the principles of natural justice&quot;.

&quot;There was no communication to us (AAP MLAs) from the Election Commission (EC) about the hearing before it. It is in complete violation of natural justice,&quot; senior advocate K V Viswanathan, appearing for some of the MLAs, submitted. 
The submissions on behalf of the MLAs came during the nearly three-hour-long day-to-day hearing of the legislators&#39; pleas challenging their disqualification for holding offices of profit.

The AAP MLAs counsel submitted that the EC&#39;s order is not only &quot;wrong and erroneous&quot;, it is also &quot;unfortunately not acting fairly&quot; and has failed to discharge its statutory duty.

&quot;It is also that even a temporary government employer cannot be removed on the grounds of misconduct without holding a full-fledged inquiry.

However, in the present case, the members of the legislative assembly were removed without holding a full- fledged inquiry and without giving them any opportunity to explain if they ever held any office of profit,&quot; the bench was told.

The arguments on behalf of the MLAs, which remained inconclusive, will resume tomorrow.

The high court had on January 24 refused to stay the Centre&#39;s notification disqualifying the MLAs, but restrained the Commission from taking any &quot;precipitate measures&quot; such as announcing dates for bypolls to fill the vacancies.

The EC had recommended the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs on January 19. The President had accepted the EC&#39;s opinion the very next day.

The 20 disqualified MLAs include Adarsh Shastri (Dwarka), Alka Lamba (Chandni Chowk), Anil Bajpai (Gandhi Nagar), Avtar Singh (Kalkaji), Kailash Gahlot (Najafgarh) -- who is also a minister -- Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar), Manoj Kumar (Kondli), Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli), Nitin Tyagi (Laxmi Nagar), Praveen Kumar (Jangpura).

The others are Rajesh Gupta (Wazirpur), Rajesh Rishi (Janakpuri), Sanjeev Jha (Burari), Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar), Som Dutt (Sadar Bazar), Sharad Kumar (Narela), Shiv Charan Goel (Moti Nagar), Sukhbir Singh (Mundka), Vijendar Garg (Rajinder Nagar) and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar).

The Delhi High Court had on September 8, 2016, set aside their appointment as parliamentary secretaries on the grounds that they were appointed without the concurrence of the Lieutenant Governor (LG).&nbsp; 
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The 20 lawmakers stated that the poll panel had sent its opinion to President Ram Nath Kovind by 'flouting the principles of natural justice'

The disqualified Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs today claimed in the Delhi High Court that they were held guilty of holding office of profit by the Election Commission (EC) without giving them an opportunity to explain their stand. The MLAs, all 20 of whom have now filed a plea in the high court against their disqualification, submitted before a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar that the poll panel had sent its opinion to President Ram Nath Kovind by "flouting the principles of natural justice". "There was no communication to us (AAP MLAs) from the Election Commission (EC) about the hearing before it. It is in complete violation of natural justice," senior advocate K V Viswanathan, appearing for some of the MLAs, submitted. The submissions on behalf of the MLAs came during the nearly three-hour-long day-to-day hearing of the legislators' pleas challenging their disqualification for holding offices of profit. The AAP MLAs counsel submitted that the EC's order is not only "wrong and erroneous", it is also "unfortunately not acting fairly" and has failed to discharge its statutory duty. "It is also that even a temporary government employer cannot be removed on the grounds of misconduct without holding a full-fledged inquiry. However, in the present case, the members of the legislative assembly were removed without holding a full- fledged inquiry and without giving them any opportunity to explain if they ever held any office of profit," the bench was told. The arguments on behalf of the MLAs, which remained inconclusive, will resume tomorrow. The high court had on January 24 refused to stay the Centre's notification disqualifying the MLAs, but restrained the Commission from taking any "precipitate measures" such as announcing dates for bypolls to fill the vacancies. The EC had recommended the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs on January 19. The President had accepted the EC's opinion the very next day. The 20 disqualified MLAs include Adarsh Shastri (Dwarka), Alka Lamba (Chandni Chowk), Anil Bajpai (Gandhi Nagar), Avtar Singh (Kalkaji), Kailash Gahlot (Najafgarh) -- who is also a minister -- Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar), Manoj Kumar (Kondli), Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli), Nitin Tyagi (Laxmi Nagar), Praveen Kumar (Jangpura). The others are Rajesh Gupta (Wazirpur), Rajesh Rishi (Janakpuri), Sanjeev Jha (Burari), Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar), Som Dutt (Sadar Bazar), Sharad Kumar (Narela), Shiv Charan Goel (Moti Nagar), Sukhbir Singh (Mundka), Vijendar Garg (Rajinder Nagar) and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar). The Delhi High Court had on September 8, 2016, set aside their appointment as parliamentary secretaries on the grounds that they were appointed without the concurrence of the Lieutenant Governor (LG).

No chance given to explain: AAP MLAs to HC on disqualification

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20 AAP MLAs again move Delhi High Court against their disqualification

No chance given to explain: AAP MLAs to HC on disqualification