In a major blow to the UPA government, President A P J Abdul Kalam on Tuesday returned the Bill on the issue for reconsideration by both houses of Parliament.
NEW DELHI: In a major blow to the UPA government, President APJ Abdul Kalam on Tuesday returned the Office of Profit Bill to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha Speaker for reconsideration.
The controversial bill was passed in the recently concluded budget session of Parliament, which put National Advisory Committee (NAC) earlier chaired by Congress president and Shreeniketan Shantiniketan Development Authority headed by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chaterjee out of the purview of ‘office-of-profit’.
A top source told DNA that the President has raised three grounds to return the bill for reconsideration. He has queried whether it was alright to enact such a law with retrospective effect. The other issue, which the President has raised should worry Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chaterjee and some 40 other MPs, who are mostly from the ruling UPA.
He has asked why was a law being made at this juncture when the posts exempted from the purview of office-of-profit include those against whom petitions were still pending before the Election Commission.
His third question is whether there can be a uniformity of law on the subject between different states and the Centre.
The President’s move has deeply embarrassed the government. The President, however, is constitutionally bound to sign the bill if the said bill is passed by the Parliament with two-third majority and without amendment for the second time.
No final decision however, has been made on the matter yet. The office of profit controversy hogged the headlines after Election Commission disqualified actor-turned-Samajwadi party MP Jaya Bachchan for holding the post of chairperson of UP Film Development Council.
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