02-12-2008, 03:59 AM
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EC divided on issuing notice to Sonia
12 Feb 2008, 0213 hrs IST,TNN
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NEW DELHI: The Election Commission appears to be divided on the issue of serving notice on Congress president
Sonia Gandhi on a disqualification complaint against her for receiving a Belgian honour.
The commission, which met on Monday to consider a presidential reference on the complaint seeking her disqualification from Parliament for receiving the 'Order of Leopold' from the Belgium government, concluded without taking any decision.
The three-member commission could not come to a conclusion on the issue because of reported differences among them on whether to issue notice to Sonia. While one of the members felt there was nothing wrong in issuing a notice to Sonia seeking her comments before disposing of the matter, election commissioner Naveen Chawla reportedly felt there was absolutely no need for it.
Sources said Chawla told the other members that he would like to go through the complaint in detail and so the commission decided to defer a decision on issuing notice to Sonia till Tuesday.
The EC has received 250 complaints under Office of Profit in recent times but barring SP leader Jaya Bachchan and Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik, nobody was issued notice by the commission.
Sonia was conferred the 'Order of Leopold', the second highest civilian award in Belgium, and an honorary doctorate by the Belgian government during her visit to the European country in November, 2006.
The petitioner, an advocate from Kerala, contended that receiving the Belgian honour amounted to owing allegiance to the Constitution of that country.
Congress, however, dismissed as "laughable" the complaint, with party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi saying there was no basis for the petition. "It is a laughable complaint. It has no basis," he said.
Singhvi said the complaint against Sonia was akin to asking the South African government to exile or disqualify its leader Nelson Mandela for being awarded the Bharat Ratna. "The Election Commission will use its discretion and reach an appropriate decision in the matter," he said.
The complaint against Sonia, sent to the President, was forwarded to the commission seven months ago.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> EC divided on issuing notice to Sonia
12 Feb 2008, 0213 hrs IST,TNN
Print Save EMail Write to Editor
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission appears to be divided on the issue of serving notice on Congress president
Sonia Gandhi on a disqualification complaint against her for receiving a Belgian honour.
The commission, which met on Monday to consider a presidential reference on the complaint seeking her disqualification from Parliament for receiving the 'Order of Leopold' from the Belgium government, concluded without taking any decision.
The three-member commission could not come to a conclusion on the issue because of reported differences among them on whether to issue notice to Sonia. While one of the members felt there was nothing wrong in issuing a notice to Sonia seeking her comments before disposing of the matter, election commissioner Naveen Chawla reportedly felt there was absolutely no need for it.
Sources said Chawla told the other members that he would like to go through the complaint in detail and so the commission decided to defer a decision on issuing notice to Sonia till Tuesday.
The EC has received 250 complaints under Office of Profit in recent times but barring SP leader Jaya Bachchan and Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik, nobody was issued notice by the commission.
Sonia was conferred the 'Order of Leopold', the second highest civilian award in Belgium, and an honorary doctorate by the Belgian government during her visit to the European country in November, 2006.
The petitioner, an advocate from Kerala, contended that receiving the Belgian honour amounted to owing allegiance to the Constitution of that country.
Congress, however, dismissed as "laughable" the complaint, with party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi saying there was no basis for the petition. "It is a laughable complaint. It has no basis," he said.
Singhvi said the complaint against Sonia was akin to asking the South African government to exile or disqualify its leader Nelson Mandela for being awarded the Bharat Ratna. "The Election Commission will use its discretion and reach an appropriate decision in the matter," he said.
The complaint against Sonia, sent to the President, was forwarded to the commission seven months ago.