For ‘holding office of profit' by being a member of NDMC

The Election Commission has fixed November 10 as the date for hearing a petition filed against Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit seeking her disqualification under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for “holding office of profit” by being a member of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). A similar petition against BJP MLA from the Delhi Cantonment Assembly constituency Karan Singh Tanwar, who too is a member of NDMC, is also slated for hearing on November 10.

The full Commission – Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and Election Commissioners V.S. Sampath and Harishankar Brahma – will hear the petitions on that day. When the EC forwarded the complaint filed by Sanjeev Kumar Verma against Ms. Dikshit, the latter 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”.

Unlikely to cause damage

Sources said the petitions against Ms. Dikshit and Mr. Tanwar are unlikely to cause damage to their Assembly membership as they were automatically entitled to membership in the NDMC by virtue of being MLAs from New Delhi and Delhi Cantonment respectively.