CPI National General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy today welcomed the setting aside of the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs by the Delhi High Court on March 23. In a press release here on Saturday, Sudhakar Reddy said that CPI had expressed its apprehension on that very day of announcement of disqualification and different criteria is being applied to different states. It is a matter of serious concern that the Court found the Election Commission’s recommendation in the office-of-profit case was ‘bad in law’, ‘vitiated’ and failed to ‘comply with the principles of natural justice’ he said.
Such acts of a constitutional authority, in this case the Election Commission results in the weakening of the democratic set up of our country of which elections are an inseparable part he said. Reddy suggested that the Election Commission should keep its autonomy and give confidence to the nation to that extent and act above suspicion. There should not be different criteria to different states he said. Otherwise the people will think that it is another parrot in the cage. The CPI leader said that the High Court directed the EC to hear the matter afresh and also decide the all important and seminal issue of what is meant by office-of-profit in government. The High Court had also explicitly said that principles of natural justice had been violated since the legislators were not given an opportunity to be heard, he said. (NSS)