High Court Relief To AAP: Blow For Election Commission

A huge victory for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a huge strike against the Election Commission - 20 Aam Admi Party lawmakers in Delhi were reinstated by the Delhi High Court today. They had been declared disqualified in January by the Election Commission after they were accused of holding offices of profit - which means they broke the rules by holding positions with the Delhi government that allowed them perks. However, the court said the notification disqualifying the AAP MLAs was bad in law and sent their plea back to the Election Commission which will hear it afresh. It also said that there was violation of natural justice and no oral hearing was given to the MLAs before disqualifying them. This is the first time in two decades that an Election Commission decision to disqualify a legislator has been struck down.