Sweets were served during the tea break as the 20 disqualified AAP MLAs returned to the Delhi Assembly on Friday following the Delhi High Court order setting aside their disqualification in the office-of-profit case. The court also directed the Election Commission (EC) to hear the matter afresh.
The House was in session when news broke of the High Court’s decision In an order on March 8, the Assembly Secretariat had said that the 20 MLAs stood disqualified with effect from January 20 — the date of the notification of the President’s order.
Celebration lunch
It was during Question Hour when the news broke and Speaker Ram Niwas Goel joked: “Should we have Monday’s lunch organised by Kailashji?”, referring to Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, who was among the 20 disqualified MLAs. Being a Minister, Mr. Gahlot was attending the proceedings of the House and promptly agreed to organise lunch.
Later, AAP workers and supporters offered sweets to leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Mr. Goel then said in the House that sweets would be served during the tea break.
The Speaker also allowed the 20 MLAs to return to the House and attend the remaining days of the Budget session, which started on March 16. Around 10 MLAs, including Laxmi Nagar MLA Nitin Tyagi and Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba, were quick to join the session.
Mr. Goel then asked the House to vote on a resolution by AAP MLA Jitender Singh Tomar to allow suspended BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma to attend the rest of the session. Mr. Sharma had been suspended for the Budget session for threatening police action against AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj earlier this week. Though it was not clear if ‘yes’ won the voice vote over ‘no’, the Speaker said the resolution was passed and Mr. Sharma’s suspension revoked.
