NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has proposed the termination of membership of suspended councillor Tahir Hussain for remaining absent from House meetings for three consecutive times without information. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already suspended Hussain back in Ferbruary.
Hussain is an accused in the northeast Delhi riots that broke out in February following a series of protests against and in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the city. Over 50 people were killed in the violence. Hussain, who was elected councillor from Nehru Vihar ward, is in jail since March for his alleged involvement in the killing of IB staffer Ankit Sharma.
The proposal— moved by the municipal secretary under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act— to end his membership was approved on Wednesday. "If a member remains absent during House sittings continuously three times without information, as per the act, the House may declare the ward being represented by the councillor vacant after terminating his membership," said the proposal.
Hussain hasn't attended the meetings since January without intimation to the mayor or municipal secretary. The sittings couldn't be held for three months from March to May due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the senior municipal officials and experts, the proposal will now be sent to the Lieutenant Government for final approval and notification.
If it is approved, this will be one of the rare occasions when the membership of an elected representative of the corporation was revoked. Membership of two councillors of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi—Sharda Jain (2002) and Ashok Jain (2007-08) were annulled in the past for long absence from the House meetings, said Rakesh Mehta, former chief secretary of Delhi. The decision for the disqualification of Ashok was withdrawn later.
"The L-G may refer the matter to the commissioner for enquiry. For termination, the L-G has to accept the report of the commissioner," said Mehta, who was also the Municipal Commissioner and chief of State Election Commission (SEC) in Delhi.
East Delhi Mayor Nirmal Jain, however, said that the seat represented by Hussain is vacant now and information in this regard would be conveyed to the L-G and SEC. "This was an administrative decision and not a proposal moved by any councillor, which was passed unanimously," said Nirmal.
On August 11, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor has written to the mayor demanding Hussain’s expulsion. "Whatever the procedure is, it should be followed," said AAP’s Saurabh Bhardwaj when asked about Hussain’s termination.