The Delhi Assembly has stopped the salary of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs who were disqualified in January for holding an office of profit, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said on Tuesday.

The 20 MLAs had been appointed parliamentary secretaries to Ministers - a post the Election Commission of India said was an office of profit, leading to the disqualification.

“Since the MLAs were disqualified, their monthly salary of ₹12,000 has been stopped,” said Mr. Goel.

The MLAs have challenged the disqualification in the High Court, which recently reserved its judgment in the matter. The AAP government had in 2015 appointed 21 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries. In 2016, the HC had ruled the appointments illegal.

Since then, one of the MLAs, Jarnail Singh of Rajouri Garden, has resigned. The disqualification of the remaining 20 MLAs, including current Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, was approved by the President earlier this year.