The Election Commission of India on Wednesday rejected pleas of Delhi Congress, the BJP and the Delhi Government to make them party in a petition filed by advocate Prashant Patel for disqualification of 21 AAP legislators for holding the post of Parliamentary Secretaries.
Rejecting the applications of Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken, Delhi Government, Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay and RTI activist Vivek Garg, the Commission said, “The Commission cannot allow the applicants to be joined as parties to the present proceedings, the Commission may seek their assistance as offered by them, if, and when, it so requires and considers desirable and expedient”.
“Thus, the parties to the present proceedings have been determined by the said Presidential reference dated November 10, 2015, to the Commission, namely, Prashant Patel, Advocate, as petitioner, and 21 MlAs of the Delhi legislative Assembly named in the said representation of Prashant Patel, as respondents. Therefore, the above applications of the aforesaid applicants, including the Government of NCT of Delhi, for their impleadment as parties to the present proceedings is not maintainable before the Commission,” said the Commission in its six-page order while fixing August 10, next date of hearing in the matter.
“In so far as their prayer to appear as interveners before the Commission is concerned, as already mentioned above, Commission has the power to regulate its own procedure in such proceedings under Section 146B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” the ECI said.
During the hearing before the Commission, the counsels for Delhi Congress and BJP submitted that the present proceedings raised important questions of law and facts and their interest, being national parties, lay in assisting the Commission to come to right decision by producing all relevant case law and information. It was also submitted on behalf of the Congress that they are not seeking to play any adversarial role in the matter.