The govt is setting up of a 15-member Joint Parliamentary Committee to find a holistic definition of the term Office of Profit.
NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday announced the setting up of a 15-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to find a holistic definition of the term Office of Profit. The JPC will also address the issues raised by President APJ Abdul Kalam in his presidential reference to Parliament. The move comes in the wake of the Prime Minister's meeting on Wednesday with the President, and is being seen as a gesture of addressing his concerns.
The Law Minister had, in his reply to the debate on the presidential reference earlier this month, promised to set up a committee to examine the issues raised by the President. The 15-member JPC, as announced by Law Minister H R Bhardwaj, will comprise of ten members from the Lok Sabha including its chairperson and five members from the Rajya Sabha. The committee is expected to submit its report by the winter session of Parliament. The terms of reference of the JPC are to examine the expression of "Office of Profit" and suggest a comprehensive definition, and recommend the evaluation of generic and comprehensive criteria which are just, fair and can be applied to all states and union territories. Making the announcement in the Lok Sabha the Law Minister said that the government had also suggested to the JPC that it should examine the feasibility of adoption of a system of law in relation to MPs that exists in the United Kingdom.
In May, Parliament had passed a bill expanding the list of offices that are excluded from the purview of the term Office of Profit. The President had set the cat amongst the pigeons by returning the Bill to Parliament, raising several concerns on it.Earlier this month, Parliament sent back the Bill to the President without making any changes.
Significantly, the President is yet to give his assent to the Bill and under the Constitution though he has no option but to give his assent now, no time limit has been set for it.
The Election Commission is currently examining complaints against nearly 40 MPs. In addition to the fact that the President is yet to give his assent to the Bill, ominously for the UPA, most of these MPs belong either to the Left parties and other parties in the alliance. Some of the prominent MPs who have complaints pending against them are Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Minister of State for commerce Jairam Ramesh, Hanan Mollah and Mohd Salim.
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