The Election Commission today sent notices to 27 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for allegedly holding offices-of-profit.
The EC has given time till November 11 to file their responses.
The EC issued show cause notice on a fresh petition seeking their disqualification for allegedly holding office-of-profit. The petition filed in June, and forwarded to the Commission by Rashtrapati Bhawan last month, had sought cancellation of membership of 27 AAP MLAs over the issue.
EC officials working close to the matter confirmed that notices have been issued.
The 27 MLAs include seven legislators against whom the EC is already considering a similar plea for holding the office of parliamentary secretaries.
The list includes Delhi Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel, his deputy Rakhi Birla, former deputy speaker Bandana Kumari and estranged AAP MLA and Swaraj Abhiyan leader Pankaj Pushkar.
The petitioner has claimed that these 27 MLAs hold posts of chairpersons of Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKSs) of different government hospitals in Delhi without any sanctity of law.
“The Delhi government in 2009 through its executive/ standing orders approved constituting RKSs in all the hospitals with governing body under the chairmanship of the local MLA in violating the mandate of scheme. The order of appointing MLAs either by the present government or by the earlier government, as chairperson of the RKS is wholly illegal and void ab initio, without any legal sanctity,” the complaint had said.
People working close to the Delhi government said RKSs were set up by the Sheila Dikshit cabinet on 5 October, 2009 and the complaint will fall flat in due course of time.
In July 2014, the then Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had in Parliament said MPs/ MLAs will be chairpersons of the committees. The National Rural Health Mission website clearly states that an MP/ MLA can become a chairman/ member, the people said.
With PTI Inputs
