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Office of Profit issue : Parliament adopts Bill |
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Parliament has passed the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) amendment bill seeking to exempt 46 posts from the purview of office of profit. The posts include the chairmanship of the National Advisory Council which was held by Congress president Sonia Gandhi before her resignation on the office of profit issue and the chairmanship of Shanti Niketan Development Authority held by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Other offices sought to be excluded from the office of profit include UP Development Council headed by Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and the now defunct All India Council of Sports earlier headed by BJP leader V.K. Malhotra.
The Lok Sabha, the lower House of parliament adopted the Bill by voice vote on Tuesday, May 16, while the Rajya Sabha, the upper House, adopted it by 109 votes on Wednesday, May 17. There were three votes against the motion.
The National Democratic Alliance opposed the Bill on the issue of inclusion of National Advisory Chairperson among the offices exempted from disqualification. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani said the NAC chairperson incumbent had become what he called a super Prime Minister. He said the office of Prime Minister has been devalued with the setting up of the National Advisory Council. In the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha, most members of the NDA walked out in protest.
Janata Dal United leader George Fernandes described the passing of the Office of Profit Bill as unconstitutional and said that it smacked of opportunism and rationalisation of something that is patently wrong and unconstitutional. Speaking to mediapersons on Friday, May 19, he said the offices of profit were a drain on the exchequer.
Several states have also passed similar Bills. Delhi Assembly passed a Bill on May 18 to exempt 14 offices from the office of profit definition with retrospective effect from Sept. 9, 1997. The opposition alleged that the Government’s move is meant just to protect Congress MLAs holding various posts coming within the purview of office of profit.
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