The Election Commission has finalised its order on the complaint against Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Karan Singh Tanwar seeking their disqualification from the Assembly under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for “holding office of profit” by being a member of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and forwarded the same to President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday.
“It is for the President to decide, as the complaint, which was received by her was forwarded to EC for the decision. Normally the Commission's findings are binding on the President,” official sources said without elaborating on the content of the verdict.
There was no time-frame for the President to give her order on the complaint and in the normal circumstances it was not delayed, they added. The complaint was made by one Sanjeev Kumar Verma.
While Ms. Dikshit was elected from the New Delhi constituency, Mr. Tanwar represents the Delhi Cantonment.
The Commission - Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and Election Commissioners V.S. Sampath and H.S. Brahma – had the last hearing of the case on May 15 and reserved its order.
Both the Assembly constituencies come under the jurisdiction of NDMC.
Earlier, when the EC sought the comment of Ms. Dikshit on the complaint, she replied that by virtue of being a member of the Delhi Assembly from New Delhi constituency, she was entitled to a membership in the NDMC and she was not holding any office of profit. Mr. Tanwar too gave a similar reply to the Commission.
Section 10 of the RP Act, 1951, states that “a person shall be disqualified if, and for so long as, he/she is a managing agent, manager or secretary of any company or corporation (other than a co-operative society) in the Capital of which the appropriate government has not less than 25 per cent share”.
Both Ms. Dixit and Mr. Tanwar are hopeful that the complaint was unlikely to cause damage to their Assembly membership as they were automatically entitled to membership in the NDMC by virtue of being MLAs.
