The Allahabad High Court on Monday issued a notice to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on a petition that sought the disqualification of Adityanath and Keshav Prasad Maurya from their posts of Uttar Pradesh chief minister and deputy chief minister. A division bench of justices Sudhir Agrawal and Virendra Kumar will take up the matter again on May 24, reported PTI.
In the plea, petitioner and social activist Sanjai Sharma argued that a parliamentarian cannot be the minister of a state government as it violates Article 101(2) of the Constitution. The petitioner pointed out that both Adityanath and Maurya were still MPs, drawing salaries and enjoying other perks, reported IANS. Sharma also urged to court to declare their respective seats in the Lok Sabha vacant.
Adityanath and Maurya are likely to resign from their parliamentary seats only after the presidential election in July. According to rules, the two will have to be elected to the state legislature within six months of their swearing in. Besides, they can only contest elections to the state legislature after resigning as MPs. Adityanath is an MP from Gorakhpur while Maurya is a Lok Sabha member from the Phoolpur seat in Allahabad.
Sharma also raised questions on the constitutionality of Section 3(A) of the Prevention of Disqualification Act, reported PTI. The court sent a notice to Rohatgi as the constitutionality of a Central act cannot be tested without hearing the attorney general.
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