India News | Manipur Guv Passed Order on Opinion Given by EC Regarding Disqualification of 12 BJP MLAs, SC Told

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) The Supreme Court was informed on Thursday that the Manipur Governor has taken a decision on the opinion given by the Election Commission (EC) regarding the disqualification of 12 BJP MLAs in the "office of profit" issue.

The submission was made before a bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who was appearing for the Governor.

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The bench also comprising Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna noted the submission and said, "We are informed that order has been passed by the Manipur Governor. Therefore this has become infructuous."

Manipur Governor La. Ganesan on December 8 (yesterday) had dismissed a complaint filed by a Congress MLA seeking disqualification of 12 legislators of the State in the office of profit issue, saying they have not incurred disqualification under constitutional provisions.

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The top court had earlier said the Manipur Governor cannot "sit over" the opinion given by the Election Commission (EC) regarding the disqualification of 12 BJP MLAs in the "office of profit" issue.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Karong MLA D D Thaisii and others seeking disqualification of 12 MLAs on the ground that they were holding the posts of Parliamentary Secretaries, which amounted to "offices of profit".

The 12 BJP MLAs from Manipur were reportedly facing disqualification in a 2018 "office-of-profit" case for holding the position of parliamentary secretaries.

The MLAs were found not to be in violation by the EC as they had held the posts of parliamentary secretaries in the state under an exemption granted by two laws, the reports said.

The laws were later struck down by the high court.

After the court declared the laws void, the Manipur Congress had approached then Governor Najma Heptulla, seeking disqualification of the 12 BJP MLAs on account of holding the posts of parliamentary secretaries.

After that, the governor had sought the EC's views on the matter in October last year.

According to the report, in a letter to Heptulla in January this year, the EC opined that since the two laws were in force at the time the lawmakers held the posts of parliamentary secretaries, they could not be disqualified for holding an office of profit retrospectively.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)