Office of profit: To shield own, Centre overrules the President

Withholding his consent to the Bill that sought to save 40 MPs facing disqualification charges for allegedly holding offices of profit, Kalam had returned the Bill to Parliament on May 30.

Kalam, specifically, wanted both Houses to re-define which offices could be exempted from the profit category in a ‘‘fair, reasonable and transparent’’ manner so that it could be a model for legislatures across the country.

Though the Cabinet discussed the Bill in view of the President’s suggestions for nearly an hour, the pressure put by the supporting Left Parties that the Bill be passed ‘‘as-it-is’’ won the day.

Ten CPM MPs, including Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, are facing disqualification charges for holding such offices. The Election Commission and West Bengal are locked in an unprecedented conflict over the issue with the Left Front government refusing to give information on the MPs holding the alleged offices of profit and questioning the EC’s credentials.

At today’s Cabinet, sources said, objections were raised by some of the allies, especially NCP chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, on the ‘‘propriety’’ of clearing the Bill without giving credence to the President’s view on the matter.

But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi insisted that ‘‘no disrespect (was) meant’’ to the President, ‘‘the government would be moving a motion seeking reconsideration of the Bill in the same form as the Constitution permits the government to do so. A motion on the President’s message would be placed along with the Bill.’’

Both Chairman Rajya Sabha and Speaker Lok Sabha will have to first read out the President’s message to the both Houses before the Bill can be taken up for reconsideration or debate.

On July 25, the bill would come up before the Rajya Sabha first, it would then be reconsidered by the Lok Sabha, Dasmunsi said. Prior to that, Dasmunsi will hold consultations with Leaders of Opposition L K Advani and Jaswant Singh, tomorrow, ‘‘to try sort out the differences’’.

Unlike the Left, the BJP has been maintaining it would oppose the Bill if the suggestions made by Kalam were not incorporated. Literally, caught between the Left and the Right, this was one of the reasons the Cabinet did not take up the issue earlier.

The government, sources said, took the decision after due consideration as the President is bound by the Constitution to sign a Bill once it is re-legislated. ‘‘He is unlikely to delay signing,’’ sources said, adding that the President can only refer a dispute (mainly between the states and between the Centre and the state/s) to the Supreme Court only via the Cabinet.

However, the government is considering setting up a committee to re-define the “office-of-profit,” once the re-legislation process is out of the way. The Bill was originally passed on May 17 after a political row which had led to the resignation of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi from the Lok Sabha.