JOIN USApart from Sarita Singh, parliamentary secretary attached to employment minister, all the 20 parliamentary secretaries with the AAP government have filed their final replies to the EC which is hearing a reference seeking their disqualification for holding an ‘office of profit’.
Petitioner Prashant Patel, on whose plea, the matter was referred to the Election Commission by the President, said he would be filing his rejoinder to the replies of the parliamentary secretaries on October 24.
“I got the replies from the parliamentary secretaries on Thursday night and did not get adequate time to file my rejoinder,” said Patel.
Sources said Sarita Singh was the lone parliamentary secretary whose reply could not be filed in the EC on Friday – the final deadline for all of them.
The 21 AAP MLAs, who are facing prospects of disqualification for allegedly holding office of profit, had sought more time from the EC on October 17 claiming that lawyers were unavailable due to which they could not file their response.
On October 10, the EC rejected a plea of 21 AAP MLAs, facing prospects of disqualification for allegedly holding Office of Profit, to get hard copies of response filed by the Delhi government on the issue, saying it is "not under any obligation" to do so.
The Delhi government had earlier submitted documents before the Commission in this case claiming that no perks were enjoyed by the 21 parliamentary secretaries.
On September 8, the Delhi High Court had set aside the appointment of 21 party MLAs as parliamentary secretaries. The court had said the order to appoint them as parliamentary secretaries was given without the concurrence of the Lt Governor.
In the hearing on September 23, the MLAs had sought time to study the high court judgement that set aside their appointment. On October 7, the AAP MLAs were to file a response, but again had asked for an extension.