House panel to define office of profit

Move seen as an attempt to nudge President Kalam into signing the Prevention of Disqualification of MPs Bill.

In a bid to nudge President A P J Abdul Kalam into signing the Prevention of Disqualification of MPs Bill, the Lok Sabha today approved a motion to set up a 15-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for suggesting a comprehensive definition of office of profit.

According to top sources in the government, the announcement of the JPC may expedite the signing of the Bill by the President.

"Which government do you think is comfortable with the fact that a Bill, twice passed by Parliament, is still pending with Rashtrapati Bhavan," said a senior minister, revealing the government's uneasiness on the matter.

The JPC, comprising 10 members from the Lok Sabha to be nominated by the Speaker and five from Rajya Sabha to be named by the chairman, will examine the constitutional and legal positions relating to office of profit.

The motion was approved amidst uproar from members of the Opposition and the CPI over the hurry with which it was tabled for approval. The BJP-led Opposition members later walked out in protest.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi defended the move, saying the government was only fulfilling a commitment made in Parliament while passing the Bill.

The Bill, originally passed in May at the height of the controversy over disqualification, was refused assent by Kalam who asked Parliament to reconsider it and suggest a comprehensive and generic definition of office of profit and its applicability throughout the country.

Earlier this month, Parliament adopted the Bill without making any change and sent it again to the President for approval.

With the President yet to give assent, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met the President on Tuesday and is understood to have urged him for early assent to the Bill.

Moving the motion, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj said the terms of reference of the committee would be to also examine the feasibility of the adoption of a system relating to prevention of disqualification of MPs as existing in the UK and considered by the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976.