Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta on Thursday gave assurance to the Supreme Court that the Governor of Manipur, La Ganesan will shortly make a decision on ECI’s opinion regarding disqualification of 12 MLAs in “office of profit” issue.
The assurance was given before the bench of Justices LN Rao, BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna.
The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by Congress MLA from Manipur D D Thaisii, who sought for disqualification of the12 MLAs on the ground that they were holding the posts of parliamentary secretaries, which amounted to “offices of profit.”
During the hearing, the SC bench observed that the governor could not delay taking a call on the matter as the Election Commission of India had already furnished its opinion on January 13, 2021.
SC told the solicitor general that “in January 13, an opinion was given by the ECI that according to article 192, the governor has to go with the decision. In 11 months, nothing has happened. We do not want to pass an order but please use your good offices for that opinion so that they can be challenged.”
When the matter was called for hearing, presiding judge of the bench Justice L Nageswara Rao, told the solicitor general to use his good offices so that the same can be given.
"I assure we will do something and no direction will be required to be passed,” Tushar Mehta replied.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had orally observed that the governor of Manipur cannot delay taking a decision on the opinion given by the Election Commission of India regarding the disqualification of 12 BJP MLAs of Manipur Assembly in the “office of profit” issue.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna made the observation after noting that the governor is yet to take a decision on the opinion furnished by the Election Commission on January 13, 2021.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, had submitted that the governor cannot keep the decision pending. He had highlighted that the term of the assembly was expiring within a month.
Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for one of the respondents, had relied on Article 191 of the Constitution of India to submit that the opinion of the Election Commission was binding on the governor.
"The EC's opinion is binding on the Governor. Only one month is left. You cannot challenge the decision of the governor. You cannot attack the opinion of the EC,” the Senior Counsel had submitted.
Justice Rao had said that there are instances where the court has nudged the governor to take time-bound decisions. The judge referred to the case of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict Perarivalan, where the Tamil Nadu governor was delaying a decision on the recommendation made by the state government for remission of his sentence.
The matter was then adjourned on Thursday for the appearance of the Solicitor General.
The writ petition had stated that 12 members of the Legislative Assembly of Manipur were appointed as parliamentary secretaries for the State of Manipur.
The offices titled as parliamentary secretary for the State of Manipur, are Offices of Profit, as the said appointment elevated the 12 members of the Legislative Assembly of Manipur to the rank and status of minister of the state and also entitled them to draw higher salary and allowances, it stated.
The 12 members of the Legislative Assembly, who were appointed and who accepted appointment as parliamentary secretaries, therefore, occupied Office of Profit and thus automatically incurred the disqualification under Article 191 of the Constitution of India and are not entitled to continue as Members of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, the petitioner argued.
The present controversy arose when the Manipur Parliamentary Secretary (Appointment, Salary and Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2012, and the Manipur Parliamentary (Appointment, Salary and Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Repealing Act, 2018 were declared unconstitutional by the Manipur High Court in a verdict dated September 17, 2020. Subsequently, Congress approached the then Manipur governor Najma Heptulla, seeking the disqualification of 12 BJP legislators appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries for enjoying office of profit from 2017 onwards. In October 2020, Heptulla sought the EC's views in this regard.
However, the chances of these MLAs attracting disqualification appear slim as the aforesaid laws were in existence when they held the office of Parliamentary Secretary. At present, there are 15 Congress MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly whereas the state government has the support of 37 MLAs which includes 27 BJP legislators. The Manipur Assembly election will take place early next year.
