Oppn ready to profit from Bill tangle

Jaya Bachchan files papers for RS bypoll.

Even as the government wrestled with the knotty problem of the Office of Profit Bill, film actress Jaya Bachchan, who started the whole controversy, filed her nomination papers today as a Samajwadi Party candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypoll caused by her resignation from Uttar Pradesh.

In Lucknow, without elaborating, UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said that Congress President Sonia Gandhi "was still holding offices of profit", indicating that the both UPA allies and Opposition parties were ready to keep the controversy alive.

He, however, clarified that if the Bill came up in the Lok Sabha again, his party would support it.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha LK Advani added grist to the mill and pressure on the government by conceding the government could return the Bill to the President without making any changes in it and disregarding the President of India's opinion that he would be bound to sign.

"But, I request the government to keep in mind the common man's perception before it takes any decision on the legislation," Advani told mediapersons.

That the Opposition was digging in and getting ready to fight the Bill outside Parliament was clear by Advani's remark when he said judicial intervention could also be sought to block the Bill's passage. "The issue can also go to court, which can declare it ultra vires," he said.

The Left parties suggested a new way out of the controversy. Without conceding any of the objections cited by President APJ Abdul Kalam, they said a special parliamentary committee should go into the matter because it was for Parliament to decide whether to pass the Bill in the present or amended form.

The Left parties, which met here today, also warned the Election Commission against precipitating the issue of disqualification petitions filed against several MPs, including 11 Left members led by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. The EC should not appear to be partisan and act on a compliant by the BJP, they said.

Addressing a press conference, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat steered clear of questions whether the Left wanted the Bill to be passed in its present form and returned to the President. "Parliament should decide" was his and other Left leaders' refrain to such queries.

Karat said the Left was not for advancing the monsoon session or calling a special session to deal with the situation caused by the return of the Bill by the President.

Asked whether they supported the contention that the law should come into effect retrospectively, Karat said, "Even the Supreme Court has given rulings" that laws could be enforced with retrospective effect.

CPI leader AB Bardhan sought to dismiss the objections raised by the President on the issue of uniformity in the legislation, contending that states had their own definitions and list of offices of profit.