Lucknow : In what might be a significant embarrassment for the BJP’s Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, there are questions about the legitimacy of one of the Deputy Chief Ministers, Keshav Prasad Maurya’s membership in the Legislative Council.
Three letters have been written to the UP Governor, Anandiben Patel, by social activist Diwakar Tripathi, a resident of Prayagraj, citing a violation of the rule book, as per Article 191 of the Constitution of India read with Section 9(A) of the Representation of People Act 1951, which would jeopardise his membership in the Legislative Council.
Maurya filed an affidavit with the Election Commission of India on February 3, 2022, before to the UP State Assembly elections last year. Maurya lost, but he was allowed to serve as Adityanath’s deputy chief minister during his second term since he was elected to the UP State Legislative Council as an MLC. According to his declaration and other official documents, he is the owner of Kamdhenu Filling Station and the Director of Kamdhenu Krishi Trading Pvt Limited.
The fact that he continues to be the sole owner of the aforementioned firms is stated in Maurya’s statement in Form 26 as required by Rule 4A for nomination to the Legislative Council.
Because the governor has the authority to disqualify an MLC, a petition in the form of a letter was submitted to the Governor’s office on September 19, 2022, and again on May 29, 2023. However, as both petitions were ignored and no action was done, a reminder was issued to the Governor’s office in Lucknow on June 19, 2023. But there has been no news from Raj Bhawan.
In his statement, Keshav Maurya said unequivocally that he is the owner of Kamdhenu Krishi Trading Private Limited. The money derived by him from the abovementioned company’s trade and activity has also been disclosed.
Maurya further said that he had gone into a contract with Indian Oil Corporation, which is owned and managed by the Government of India, to get a dealership of petrol pumps in the name of his firm Kamdhenu Filling Station at Kasia in the Kaushambi district of Prayagraj.
According to papers given by Keshav Prasad Maurya, he has an ongoing contract with a government corporation for the delivery of fuel in the course of his business of selling petrol.
Given the existence of the aforementioned contract, petitions to the Governor of the state claim that the company owned by Maurya and the government for the purpose of selling petrol is a disqualification for a member of the Legislative Council under section 9A of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951.
(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of the legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a state- (a) if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any state specified in the First Schedule, other than an office declared by the Legislature of the state by law not to disqualify its holder; (e) if he is so dispirited;
According to Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act: Disqualification from government contracts, etc.: A person is disqualified if, and only if, he has a contract with the competent government in the course of his trade or business for the provision of commodities to, or the execution of any works undertaken by the government.
Where a contract has been fully performed by the person who entered into it with the appropriate government (the government or a department of the government or an instrumentality of any government department that has effective controls over that work), the contract shall be deemed not to exist solely because the Government has not performed its part of the contract, either entirely or partially.
According to the constitution, a person who owns a gas station may be elected as an MLA/ MLC/ MP only provided he swears in writing, an affidavit, that he will not accept any pay or monetary advantages from the government, including salary and other monetary incentives. In this situation, however, Keshav Maurya should be questioned if he was previously paid as a Member of Parliament and whether he is currently paid as an MLC.
According to experts, Keshav Prasad Maurya may be barred from serving in the Legislative Council due to a continuing contract with the central government or one of its agencies; in this case, the federal government agency is the Indian Oil Corporation.
In the matter of Shrikant Vs Vasantrao & Others 2006 (2) SSC 682, a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court of India had occasion to deal with section 9(A) of the Representation of People Act and the intention underlying the said provision when interpreting the said provision. The relevant portion from paragraph 20 of the ruling states: “The object and intent of Section 9A of the Act is to maintain the purity of the legislature and to avoid conflicts between duty and interest of Members of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council.” The stated goal is to ensure that a person who has entered into a contract with the state government and is thus obligated to perform certain obligations towards the state government is not elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council, lest he use his influence as an elected member of the Legislature and benefits from the existing contracts. It aims to guarantee that his personal interests do not take precedence over his responsibilities and obligations as a member of the legislature or legislative council.
Keshav Prasad Maurya is a close lieutenant of Union Home Minister Amit Shah who is concerned about the vote shares of the backward classes in Uttar Pradesh. He has always been recognised as the leading ‘OBC-face’ in the BJP government. During the first term of the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, Maurya served as Deputy Chief Minister and was in charge of the Public Works Department. As the OBCs in Uttar Pradesh were dissatisfied with the Yogi Government, Maurya emerged as a chief ministerial contender. Only by the intervention of senior RSS and BJP officials was Maurya prevented from challenging Yogi’s leadership.
Furthermore, when Swami Prasad Maurya, another OBC stalwart, resigned from the government, along with two other ministers from the backward community, accusing the government of being anti-backward, Maurya’s stature grew exponentially, and he became more prominent as the face of the backward classes, and a large part of the BJP’s campaign revolved around him.
Despite his defeat in the 2022 Assembly elections from Sirathu, his role in the state administration has not diminished. Instead, he was appointed to Adityanath’s government with the general elections in 2024 in mind, as well as the importance of the backward classes in the polls. Since then, the BJP has been banking on Keshav Maurya. Though Keshav lost the election, he helped the party gain numerous seats in the backward belt.
“This is not permissible according to the law of the land,” says Allahabad High Court Advocate KK Roy, who has already filed a writ case in the Allahabad High Court as Writ C 29572 of 2023. In this situation, a sitting MLA who has previously disclosed that he owns a gas pump and is the owner of Kamdhenu filling station is ineligible for main Legislative Council membership. Forget becoming the state’s Deputy Chief Minister. In our petition, we requested that under Section 8A, any person found guilty of a corrupt practise by an order under Section 99 be submitted to the President for determination of whether such person shall be disqualified and, if so, for how long: provided, however, that the period for which any person may be disqualified under this sub-section shall in no case exceed 6 years from the date of conviction. As a result, we have asked the Allahabad High Court to issue an order disqualifying Keshav Prasad Maurya for corrupt practises. The Governor had also received three petitions in this respect, but no action had been done.”
Another lawyer at the Allahabad High Court, Prabal Pratap, said, “This is a clear case of Office of Profit.” He has not declared that he would not accept a salary from the government as an MLC. As a result, he qualifies to be disqualified. Any elected official may not have dual citizenship. It’s against the law. Before voting him as an MLC and then as the state’s Deputy Chief Minister, the administration should have kept his provision of the Indian constitution in mind.”
On September 6, 2023, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya’s office was emailed, and a few questions were posed to him on his account of the situation. His office, however, did not respond.
On September 8th, the Governor’s Office was also given an e-mail, and questions were raised about Tripathi’s three letters to the Governor’s Office. In this instance, too, the office did not react to the emails submitted.
(This article is submitted by Raja Chowdhury, Editorial Director of INDvestigations, an investigative news blog)
