EC votes 2-1 to reject plea against Sonia

By a 2-1 vote,the Election Commission has rejected the view that an inquiry is necessary to go into a complaint against Congress president Sonia Gandhi....

By a 2-1 vote,the Election Commission has rejected the view that an inquiry is necessary to go into a complaint against Congress president Sonia Gandhi for receiving the Order of Leopold,the second highest civilian honour in Belgium. Chief Election Commissioner-designate Navin Chawla and Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi overturned outgoing CEC N Gopalaswamis view that an enquiry is necessary to go into the complaint against Sonia.

The two commissioners are believed to have underscored that the inquiry was complete and no further action was needed on the issue. The majority view prevails in case of difference of opinion among the three commissioners. The ECs view has been sent to President Pratibha Patil for her final decision.

The Congress president was presented this honour during her visit to Belgium in November 2006. A Kerala advocate later sought Sonia Gandhis disqualification for accepting the honour.

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Gopalaswami was quoted by PTI as saying I do not want to say anything on this because this is a case on which the decision will be taken by the President. So until the decision is taken,there can be no discussion on this. The matter will be finally decided at the appropriate time. The point is that the President has not taken a decision yet.

Quraishi,on the other hand,said,The correspondence between the Election Commission and the President is privileged and cannot be discussed. Only after the President has taken a decision and she has issued an order that the information can be shared.

The petition cited Article 102(1) (d) of the Constitution which states that anybody who owes allegiance to the Constitution of another country should be disqualified from the membership of Parliament. The petitioner alleged that accepting the award amounted to owing allegiance to the constitution of that country.

Acting on a reference from the then President APJ Abdul Kalam,the Commission had earlier issued notice to Gandhi as also sought details from the Ministry of External Affairs. The Commission was split 2-1 even at the time of issuing notice to her.

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