New Delhi: In a setback to the AAP, the Election Commission has rejected the pleas of 21 party legislators -- whose appointment as Parliamentary Secretaries was set aside by the court -- to drop the "office of profit" case against them.


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Since the AAP MLAs held de facto posts of Parliamentary Secretaries from March 13, 2015, to September 8, 2016, the proceedings on the question of their disqualification will continue, the EC said in its order on Friday.


The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said it respected the EC order but hinted that the option of legal remedy was available to the ruling party.


On the other hand, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress attacked AAP and sought the resignation of the MLAs involved.


The 21 AAP legislators had approached the poll panel to drop the disqualification case as their appointments had already been set aside by the Delhi High Court on September 8, 2016.


Out of these 21 legislators, Jarnail Singh had resigned from the Rajouri Garden seat in January to contest the Punjab assembly elections.


The Election Commission, in its 23-page order, said it was not in dispute that the respondents (legislators) were appointed Parliamentary Secretaries in the Delhi government by an order of March 13, 2015.


"Thus, it is evident that from the date of their appointment on March 13, 2015, till the date of setting aside of their appointment on September 8, 2016, the respondents were de facto holders of the office of Parliamentary Secretaries, albeit by way of an illegal appointment order and, hence, the present proceedings before the commission on the question of their disqualification is maintainable and shall continue," the EC said.


The EC said: "... without prejudice to the merits of the case, the reference relating to the question of alleged disqualification of the respondents under Section 15 (4) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, for holding the said office survives and is maintainable in respect of all the said respondents, except Jarnail Singh, MLA of Rajouri Garden, who has resigned his office on January 17 and even by-election has been held on April 17 to fill that vacancy in the Delhi assembly."


AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday said: "The EC`s order should not be misinterpreted. The High Court had declared the very order of appointment of 21 Parliamentary Secretaries as null and void."


"Therefore there was no question of hearing a petition for the office which never existed," Bharadwaj said.


Welcoming the EC order, Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari said: "After the High Court, the EC has also found these AAP MLAs guilty of enjoying the office of profit as Parliamentary Secretaries."


"These MLAs now have no moral or legal right to continue as legislators," he said.


Delhi Congress President Ajay Maken demanded the resignation of 20 AAP MLAs and dared them to face the electorate again.


"The Congress demands the immediate resignation of the 20 MLAs currently facing the office of profit charge. We challenge them to face the Delhi electorate again," Maken told the media here.


In 2015, the AAP government passed an amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997, to exempt the Parliamentary Secretary`s post from the definition of office of profit with retrospective effect.


However, President Pranab Mukherjee refused to give assent, following which the appointments were set aside by the High Court.


The High Court declared their appointments illegal, saying the order had been passed "without concurrence/approval of the Lieutenant Governor".