SC to hear BJP's case against Naveen Chawla on May 8

New Delhi, Apr 13: The Supreme Court today fixed May 8 for hearing a petition filed by former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh seeking removal of Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla.

A Bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhan and V S Sirpurkar also agreed to consider the plea of Additional Solicitor General Gopala Subramanium whether the matter should be referred to the five-judge Constitution bench or not.

The court also wanted to know from the ASG whether the President can seek the advice of the government as he is bound to act on the cabinet's advice.

Mr Jaswant Singh is seeking the removal of Mr Chawla on the grounds that he was indicted for emergency excesses by the Justice Shah Commission and for collecting funds from Congress MPs, including Union Minister Ambika Soni, under the MPLAD scheme for a trust being run by his family members, including his wife Rupika.

Such a person cannot be entrusted with the job of conducting 'free and fair' elections, Mr Jaswant contended.

According to the petitioner, President APJ Abdul Kalam should be directed to refer the complaint to Chief Election Commissioner N Gopala Swami for his opinion as only CEC can recommend the removal of an Election Commissioner.

The petitioner has also objected to the procedure adopted by the President who referred the complaint to the government and the Law Ministry sought the opinion of the Attorney General of India Milon K Banerjee and accepted his opinion that no action needed to be taken against Chawla as the allegations were related to the period when someone else was the EC.

The court also decided to hear on May 8, the petition of BJP MP Chandra Bushan Singh challenging the validity of the act which has taken out a large number of offices from the definition of Office of Profit.

According to Jaswant Singh, the act has been brought in to protect senior politicians cutting across party lines as they were holding offices of profit, while at the same time continuing as MPs and ministers.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi had to resign both as Chairperson of the National Advisory Council and her Lok Sabha members and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan was disqualified for the same reason.

A large number of MPs and MLAs are facing inquiry on the issue of Office of Profit.

UNI