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AAP MLAs’ disqualification: Delhi HC hears the specific rules on office of profit

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AAP MLAs leave the Election Commission office. Photo: UNI

The case of the 20 AAP MLAs’ disqualification by the Election Commission (EC) for holding “office of profit” a, disqualification thereafter ratified by President Ram Nath Kovind, saw some interesting turns during hearing before the Delhi High Court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar on Monday(February 26).

The MLAs have challenged this court, seeing to quash the President’s notification.

During hearing Justice Sanjeev Khanna cited an example of a sale tax matter in which one presiding officer of a bench was not present at the beginning of a matter and joined later on. A writ was filed stating she (the officer) shouldn’t have been permitted as she did not hear all the arguments. The high court is of the view that yes, she can, citing Ravindra Bhatt’s judgment.

The counsel said the case was decided by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, wherein the judge recused himself but later on passed the final order.

The words in pertinent to this case were “prejudice”,  “recussal” and “rejoining”. The bench asked the counsel the meaning of these words.

How does this pertain to the current case? It was about the hearing not given to the MLAs, the judge explained. He stated that no hearing was required to be given to them. Hence nobody was given the hearing.

It was explained that no hearings were heard on the merits. It was only based on the preliminary issue. The counsel for the respondent (Union of India, Ministry of Law and Justice And Ors.) submitted that they did not argue on the factum of office of profit.

The counsel referred to benefits given to MLAs. Among them was government transport for official purposes.

He also referred to the appointment letters issued by te Government of NCT of Delhi under the Chief Minister. It says that they have been given portfolios under separate ministries.

At that the bench asked if reimbursement of expenditure can be treated as office of profit.

The counsel was not sure and said he has to take instruction.

Then the bench made a critical comment. It said “office” must exist earlier and it must remain in existence thereafter also.

Justice Khanna again asked if reimbursement of expenditure comes under the ambit of office of profit. The counsel for EC said reimbursement and allowance are different. Had it been allowance “we could have understood.”

The bench gave the counsel time to take instruction and give a better clarity on the argument.

The counsel for EC said that reimbursement is not profit. He also submitted that the present case is not the case of reimbursement from office. “Why should he be allowed to take a second oath? When a person is already sworn in as an MLA and he again swears in to Parliamentary secretary, tat proves that there is existence of independent office”

Anything more than this shows that they were holding office of profit, he said. He pointed to conveyance allowance. He showed documents filed by GNCTD which to prove that they were holding office of profit.

The settled position is that every MLA is entitled to constituency offices. He pointed out the confusion on number of offices allotted to parliamentary secretaries. He said: “Our area of inquiry was whether as parliamentary secretary they have been provided with any benefits.”

Then the counsel said: “The offices of the MLAs are provided and funded by the departments and not by the government and parties.” This surprised the bench.

The bench asked: “This means you are only entitled to one office, and if the government provides you a second office, does it mean that you are holding office of profit?”

The bench observed: “This will lead to a large number of disqualifications.”

Delhi news

Delhi govt departments distance themselves from AAP’s healthcare, women aid promised schemes, calling them non-existent

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj claimed on Tuesday that she had spoken with the health secretary of the Delhi government, who confirmed that no Sanjeevani Yojna currently exists.

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The Delhi government’s Women and Child Development and Health departments on Wednesday issued public notices clarifying that they are not associated with the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) proposed initiatives to provide Rs 2,100 to women and offer free healthcare for senior citizens. This announcement has sparked controversy ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

The notices warned the public against sharing personal information under the pretense of registering for “non-existent” schemes, emphasizing that any individual or political party collecting such information is acting fraudulently and without proper authorization.

This announcement followed a recent registration campaign led by AAP leaders for the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojana and Sanjeevani Yojana, which has left AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal angry.

Kejriwal accused the BJP of being unsettled by these programs, suggesting that Chief Minister Atishi might be targeted with a “fake” legal case in the near future. “They are completely rattled by the Mahila Samman Yojana and Sanjeevani Yojana. They have devised a scheme to fabricate a case against Chief Minister Atishi and arrest her soon,” he asserted on X, alleging that raids would also be conducted against senior AAP officials prior to Atishi’s potential arrest.

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj claimed on Tuesday that she had spoken with the health secretary of the Delhi government, who confirmed that no Sanjeevani Yojna currently exists.

Both schemes were announced by Kejriwal in advance of the Assembly polls scheduled for February next year, with AAP actively promoting the registration process. Party leaders are optimistic that these initiatives will attract voters, as similar programs have reportedly helped ruling parties maintain power in various state elections.

The notice from the Department of Women and Child Development stated: “Media reports and social media posts have brought to our attention that a political party is claiming to provide Rs 2,100 per month under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana to women in Delhi. It is clarified that no such scheme has been officially announced by the Government of Delhi.”

The department indicated that should the scheme be initiated, a digital portal would be created for eligible individuals to apply online according to established guidelines. The notice further stated that since no such scheme exists, there is no basis for any physical registration forms.

It also cautioned the public that sharing personal information—such as PAN account numbers, phone numbers, or Voter IDs—in connection with this non-existent scheme could expose them to various crimes, including cyber and banking fraud. Individuals were advised to disregard any misleading claims about the scheme and to be vigilant about sharing personal details.

The Mahila Samman Yojna was proposed in the AAP’s budget for 2024-25 to grant Rs 1,000 per month to eligible women over the age of 18 in Delhi. Kejriwal has recently pledged to increase this amount to Rs 2,100 if AAP is re-elected.

The Health and Family Department also issued a notice warning about the purported Sanjeevani Yojna, which was meant to provide free medical treatment for senior citizens over 60 at both government and private hospitals. The notice revealed that some political volunteers had begun a door-to-door campaign to collect information from elderly residents for this scheme, providing them with documents described as “Health/Sanjeevani Scheme Cards.”

The notice indicated that these volunteers were requesting personal details such as phone numbers, addresses, Aadhar numbers, and bank account information. Many elderly citizens had begun inquiring about the scheme at government hospitals and offices.

The Health and Family Department reiterated that there is currently no recognized “Sanjeevani Yojna” and emphasised that no individuals or political parties have been authorized to gather personal information from seniors on behalf of this scheme.

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Delhi news

On Camera: Delhi man stabs girl multiple times in Mukherjee Nagar, arrested

The incident was captured on CCTV and has been shared widely on the internet.

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In a shocking incident, a man from Delhi was arrested on Sunday for stabbing a girl multiple times with a knife in the Mukherjee Nagar area in broad daylight. The incident was captured on CCTV and has been shared widely on the internet.

According to reports, the incident took place on March 22. The passers-by intervened and tried to stop and catch the accused. Although, the girl did not suffer grievous injuries in this attack and is out of danger.

The police have identified the accused as Aman. In the CCTV footage, the 22-year-old could be seen stabbing the girl with the knife several times.

It has been known that students in Mukherjee Nagar used to make fun of the accused, Aman, and call him mentally ill as he used to keep roaming in the area, without doing anything.

The woman he targeted would visit Mukherjee Nagar to study in a library. In the surveillance video, the man can be observed sprinting towards the woman, forcefully knocking her down, and subsequently striking her several times.

The man who is under arrest told the police that she ridiculed him, causing him to take a knife from a nearby vegetable vendor and launch an attack on her in a fit of rage.

Last year in April, another incident was reported from Northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar where a man killed his live-in partner and dumped her body 12 lm away from a house with the help of his sister.

Police, later, found the body of Rohina Naz alias Mahi, a resident of Uttarakhand’s Mirajpur, lying near Krishna Public School. The police arrested the sister of the accused in this case.

According to the police, the accused, identified as Vineet, was on the run while his sister Parul was arrested for helping him conspire the murder and hide the body.

The 25-year-old Mahi and Vineet eloped four years ago the date of the crime and were living together in Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police Joy Tirkey had said that Mahi was pressuring him for marriage and because of this, the couple used to fight frequently.

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Delhi news

Delhi Metro services to begin at 2:30 pm on Holi

Delhi metro services will not be available till 2:30 pm on all Lines of the Delhi Metro including Rapid Metro/Airport Express Line.

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Delhi Metro services will begin at 2:30 pm from terminal stations on all lines on the occasion of Holi, March 25, and will continue normally thereafter.

The Delhi Metro on X, said that the metro train services to start at 2:30 pm on the day of the Holi festival, March 25 (Monday), adding that it said metro services will not be available till 2:30 pm on all Lines of the Delhi Metro including Rapid Metro/Airport Express Line.

Earlier on March 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of two additional corridors of Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday. The cost of these 2 corridors of the Delhi Metro Phase 4 project is Rs 8,399 crore. These 2 lines will be 20.762 km long. The construction of these projects is slated for completion by March 2026.

During the press release, the government said that the Inderlok- Indraprastha corridor will be an extension of the Green Line and will provide interchange with the Blue, Violet, Magenta and Airport Line, Yellow and Red lines, while the Lajpat Nagar- Saket G Block corridor will connect Violet, Pink, Magenta and Silver lines.

Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar- Saket G Block corridor will be entirely elevated and have 8 stations, as per the reports. The Inderlok- Indraprastha corridor will have 10 stations. The Prime Minister also interacted with beneficiaries of the PM SVANidhi scheme. He distributed loans under the scheme to 1 lakh street vendors (SVs) including 5000 SVs from Delhi.

According to official records, till now up to Rs 82 lakh loans which amount to Rs 10, 978 crore have been disbursed to more than 62 lakh street vendors all over India. Speaking to the media at the event earlier, the Prime Minister said that the program PM SVANidhi Mahotsav was dedicated to those who are always around us and without whom one cannot imagine our lives.

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