Most for no change in office-of-profit draft, Cabinet’s call today

But the Bill, which seeks to protect some MPs from expulsion for holding certain additional offices, has given rise to differences within the Government and the Congress party on how to resolve the controversy.

While one section is keen to avoid any “confrontation” with Rashtrapati Bhavan on the issue, the other, backed by a vocal Left, is equally insistent that the Bill be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament without any changes and sent back to President Abdul Kalam for his assent.

Both views, sources said, have “considerable merit” and the Cabinet has to take a call tomorrow on how to balance the conflict and come out with a solution that does not undermine the supremacy of Parliament but also takes into account the President’s “sentiments”.

Sources said there were three options before the Cabinet: (a) draft a fresh Bill incorporating the President’s views; (b) make some minor changes in the Bill to underline that the Government was not disregarding the President altogether; and, (c) bring the Bill without any changes but explain to the President the reasons why it was legally sound and get his prior assent before it is brought to Parliament the second time around.

The first option, sources said, seemed “highly unlikely” because of the strong position taken both by the Left and a majority of Congress leaders. The second was under “active consideration”. But sources said most would prefer the third option, even if it entails deferring the Bill for a few weeks.

The bottomline, sources said, is that the Government should not be seen as confronting the President or completely ignoring his concerns. That would not only provide ammunition to the BJP which has vociferously opposed the Bill but also give the impression of an “uncaring Government” at loggerheads with a “popular” President.

The Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament in the post-recess Budget session this May and exempted 46 posts, including that of chairperson of the National Advisory Council and several posts in Left-ruled West Bengal, from the ambit of Office of Profit. The BJP cried foul, alleging that the Bill was aimed at protecting Sonia Gandhi and a dozen CPM MPs among others against whom petitions of disqualification had been filed with the Election Commission.

In an unprecedented move, President Abdul Kalam on May 30 returned the Bill to Parliament for “reconsideration”. The President reportedly questioned the Bill on three grounds: the legal propriety of retrospectively relaxing norms for posts that violated the old clause in the original 1959 Bill; the need to have a “comprehensive criteria” which should be applicable throughout the country in all states in a “clear and transparent” manner; and the implications of the Bill in terms of the petitions pending before the Election Commission.