INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - MAY 2006
THE MONTH THAT WAS...

OFFICE OF PROFIT BILL PASSED AMID NDA WALKOUT FROM LS

 THE Left parties displayed their clout in the ruling dispensation when they got the UPA government pass a bill scrapping 18 posts from the list of offices of profit. The Bill, which simultaneously exempts the post of chairmanship of the NAC from the list with retrospective effect, was passed by the Lok Sabha, amidst a walk-out from the NDA camp.

 The passage of the Bill should come as a big relief to the Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party and RJD as they stand to gain the most from the decision to add more posts to those covered under the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959. There is not one post which affects the BJP.

While the Opposition termed the Bill as a blatant violation of Article 102 of the Constitution to save political heavyweights of the UPA-Left combine, law minister H R Bhardwaj claimed that the proposed legislation will clearly define the office of profit. Emphasising that everyone's suggestions had been taken care of, he said the government nursed no ill-will against anybody, but lashed out at the opposition for targeting Ms Sonia Gandhi. “We have respect for everyone, every political leader. But still our leader is attacked,” the minister said.

Earlier in the day, Mr L K Advani led the Opposition protest and walk-out against the introduction of the Bill, and the inclusion of the NAC chairmanship in the list. The Leader of Opposition said the government was indulging in “bulldozing” tactics.

Even as the law minister got up to introduce the Bill in the Lok Sabha, Mr Advani objected to the exemption of the post of NCA chairperson, which Ms Gandhi had held till she quit the office following the controversy triggered by Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan's disqualification from the Rajya Sabha on the ground that she held an office of profit. The BJP leader alleged that Ms Gandhi, as NAC chief, had become a “super prime minister”, and that “everyone agreed that the office of the prime minister has been devalued and diminished”.

He said if the NAC chairperson's post was to be exempted, then the government should have come out with a Constitutional amendment Bill, rather than a simple Bill as the post was “virtually a Constitutional office”. The government move was torn to shreds by former Union minister Menaka Gandhi, who initiated the discussion on the Bill. Terming it as “a cynical act”, the BJP leader argued that it was sought to be rushed through to protect “the powers and privileges” of a few persons.

She found it strange that the House should be reconvened to pass a Bill aimed at providing red lights and perks to a privileged few. ``I can understand a special session being convened to discuss issues such as terrorism, but have been baffled by the government's decision to call the House back into session after adjourning it abruptly,'' she told.

The former Union minister attacked the Bill for its failure to follow a proper pattern in defining the posts which had to be exempted from the list. “The UP chief minister's political advisor's post has been taken off from the list, but similar jobs in other states have been left untouched. The West Bengal Wakf Board too has been provided relief, but the Wakf Boards of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh have been left out,” she said.

Even though he found himself supporting the Bill, Samajwadi Party MP Mohan Singh took the government to task for leading the country into a Constitutional quagmire. “Instead of cynically amending Articles 102 and 103 at their government, why doesn't the government scrap them once and for all,” he asked, amidst a loud thumping of desks from the opposition benches.

Both Ms Sonia Gandhi and Speaker Somnath Chatterjee chose to stay away from the proceedings.