New Delhi, Apr 19: The Election Commission has overruled the BJP's objections about Mr Navin Chawla being part of its bench hearing the complaints against the party in the controversial CD case.

CPI-M leader Nilotpal Basu, who was present at the Commission's hearing on the issue, told reporters that the Commission at the beginning of today's hearings had given the ruling that Mr Chawla, an Election Commissioner, would be part of bench.

It rejected the BJP's contention that he should not hear the complaint for the derecognition of the party as there were reasonable grounds for suspecting that he might not be able to discharge his responsibility in an impartial manner.

The BJP had stated in its complaint against Mr Chawla that some 205 MPs had complained to the President against him and there was also a petition pending in the Supreme Court and therefore he should not be a part of the bench, specially when there was possibility of his being removed from office.

Mr Basu said the CPI-M had asked the Commission to pass an immediate order asking the BJP to apologise over the contents of the CD since it had publicly disowned and distanced itself from its contents.

Congress counsel and Union Minister Kapil Sibal said his party had pressed for the EC passing an Interim Order asking the BJP to apologise and refrain from indulging in such behaviour in future. He said his party was not asking for BJP's derecognition as the process of lodging the FIR against BJP President Rajnath Singh and UP BJP leader Lalji Tandon was over and the investigation process was set into motion. The E C should initiate action against Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders too, he urged.

BJP office bearers Arun Jaitley, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ravi Shankar Prasad, who had to present their arguments before the EC in the afternoon session, declined to say anything on the issue.

UNI