President rejects plea to disqualify late Congress leader Rajeev Satav as RS member

President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected a petition seeking disqualification of Rajeev Satav's Rajya Sabha membership for allegedly holding a subsisting contract with a government company.

The Congress MP, during the pendency of the petition, had passed away on May 16, 2021.

The January 6 order, put in the public domain by the Election Commission on Monday, says that Satav (the respondent) ''has not incurred disqualification'' for being a member of Parliament.

The order is based on the opinion rendered by Election Commission on the issue in April 2021.

Two people had moved a joint petition in September 2020 seeking disqualification of Satav as an RS member for holding a subsisting contract with a government company.

The petition was referred to Election Commission in October 2020 for its opinion.

Satav submitted his defence in March 2021 to the EC claiming that Indian Oil Corporation is not an ''appropriate government'' and the distributorship agreement with Indian Oil Corporation does not qualify as ''works'' within the meaning of section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The EC opined that Indian Oil Corporation is not an ''appropriate government'' within the meaning of section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The Election Commission concluded that the respondent (Satav) has no subsisting contract with the appropriate government which would attract disqualification under section 9A of the Representation of People Act, 1951.

''Now, therefore, having considered the matter in the light of the opinion rendered by the Election Commissio of India, I, Ram Nath Kovind, President Of India, in exercise of the powers conferred on me under Article 103 of the Constitution of India, do hereby hold that the Respondent has not incurred disqualification for being a Member of Parliament under article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,'' the order read.