President Ram Nath Kovind has held that a petition for the disqualification of Riti Pathak, a BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, on the charge of holding office of profit at the time of election is not maintainable.
On March 8, the Rashtrapati Bhavan received the petition from Rambihaari Pandey. It said Ms. Pathak had served as zila panchayat president when she won from the Sidhi Lok Sabha constituency on May 16, 2014. Therefore, the petitioner alleged, she was liable to be disqualified as the post was an office of profit under Article 102 of the Constitution.
Ms. Pathak submitted her letter of resignation on May 24, 2014, and it was accepted on May 29. The petition was referred to the Election Commission for its opinion.
The EC found that under the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Raj Avam Gram Swaraj Adhiniyam, if the president of a zila panchayat becomes a parliamentarian, the post would be deemed to have been vacated with effect from the date of his/her becoming an MP. Citing a Supreme Court ruling, the order said the President’s jurisdiction to decide on the question arose only if the disqualification was “incurred after election as MP.”
