Ram Nath Kovind quashes petition seeking disqualification of 11 AAP leaders in “Office of Profit” case; CM Arvind Kejriwal expresses happiness

Offering a sigh of relief to 11 members of Aam Aadmi Party, President Ram Nath Kovind quashed the petition seeking their disqualification on Wednesday. The petition had called for the disqualification of 11 leaders of Aam Aadmi Party on the ground of holding the office of profit.

Breaking :

The President of India, on the advice of the Election Commission, rejects the petition seeking disqualification of 11 AAP MLAs in #OfficeOfProfit case for occupying the office of Co-chairperson in District Disaster Management Authorities. pic.twitter.com/vqQTIJifLF

— AAP Express 🇮🇳 (@AAPExpress) November 5, 2019

These eleven leaders of the AAP are the co-chairpersons in various District Disaster Management Authorities. The petition claimed that this post is the office of profit, therefore, these leaders need to be removed.

However, the President took a different stand on the issue and said that the office of co-chairperson of a District Disaster Management Authority does not attract disqualification. Ram Nath Kovind expressed his opinion on the advice of the Election Commission of India. The post was not considered as the office of profit as it offers no remuneration by way of salary or allowance.

The leaders who were being under the examination were-

1. Dutt Sharma (MLA from Ghonda)
2. Rajesh Gupta (MLA from Wazirpur)
3. Sarita Singh (MLA from Rohtash Nagar)
4. Dinesh Mohania (MLA from Sangam Vihar)
5. Praveen Kumar (MLA from Jangpura)
6. Pawan Kumar Sharma (MLA from Adarsh Nagar)
7. Jarnail Singh (MLA from Tilak Nagar)
8. Amanatullah Khan (MLA from Okhla)
9. Kailash Gehlot (MLA from Najafgarh)
10. Sanjeev Jha (MLA from Burari)
11. Nitin Tyagi (MLA from Laxmi Nagar)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter to express his happiness with the decision. He wrote, “Ultimately, Truth prevails“.

सत्यमेव जयते। Ultimately, truth prevails. https://t.co/pr4cG5QBUm

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 5, 2019

Office of Profit

Any government office which has the capacity to offer any kind of benefits through it will be termed as an “office of profit”. And if any MP or MLA happens to be on this post, then he/she will be disqualified.

The detailed provision of this issue has been covered under Article 102 and Article 191 of the Indian Consitution.

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