the ubiquitour chair - continued
Double trouble – Office of Profit, Member of Parliament
Let us look at the recent happenings. Constitutionally in India, elected representatives are not supposed to occupy any other office of profit when they become Parliamentarians. However, many of our elected representatives be they from the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha have been occupying such offices of profit illegally. The current Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi had to resign from the post of office of profit as well as she vacated the seat she won in elections. She re-contested and won the election as an MP is another matter. Both Houses of Parliament have tried to amend the constitution by bringing in a Bill which included quite a few institutions as exempt institutions in order to accommodate the current elected representatives to occupy both the positions, one as a Member of the Parliament and the other to hold on to the Chair which is described hitherto as Office of Profit. The President of India in his wisdom did create some ripples among the elected representatives by referring back the bill to the Cabinet for reconsideration with a few remarks, more importantly with reference to the clause of “amended clause to become retrospective” which only will enable the Members of Parliament to retain the seat as well as the Chairs they are occupying. The Cabinet however decided to place the bill before both the houses of Parliament without any changes, and with the majority it commands, with the interests of the MPs being not to lose their seats and the Chairs. If the Bill is defeated and if the Election Commission takes action as per the Constitutional provision, it is likely that the present UPA government will lose power and the elections may be round the corner. However as expected the Bill was not defeated. But the Chairs that the present team is occupying are so important for them, the bill in all probability will be sent back to the President for his assent without any changes. It remains to be seen how the President would prefer to deal with the situation. If he sits on the bill for considerable time, the Election Commission will have no choice but to take action on the complaints and the result will be reelections.
More to come.........
Let us look at the recent happenings. Constitutionally in India, elected representatives are not supposed to occupy any other office of profit when they become Parliamentarians. However, many of our elected representatives be they from the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha have been occupying such offices of profit illegally. The current Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi had to resign from the post of office of profit as well as she vacated the seat she won in elections. She re-contested and won the election as an MP is another matter. Both Houses of Parliament have tried to amend the constitution by bringing in a Bill which included quite a few institutions as exempt institutions in order to accommodate the current elected representatives to occupy both the positions, one as a Member of the Parliament and the other to hold on to the Chair which is described hitherto as Office of Profit. The President of India in his wisdom did create some ripples among the elected representatives by referring back the bill to the Cabinet for reconsideration with a few remarks, more importantly with reference to the clause of “amended clause to become retrospective” which only will enable the Members of Parliament to retain the seat as well as the Chairs they are occupying. The Cabinet however decided to place the bill before both the houses of Parliament without any changes, and with the majority it commands, with the interests of the MPs being not to lose their seats and the Chairs. If the Bill is defeated and if the Election Commission takes action as per the Constitutional provision, it is likely that the present UPA government will lose power and the elections may be round the corner. However as expected the Bill was not defeated. But the Chairs that the present team is occupying are so important for them, the bill in all probability will be sent back to the President for his assent without any changes. It remains to be seen how the President would prefer to deal with the situation. If he sits on the bill for considerable time, the Election Commission will have no choice but to take action on the complaints and the result will be reelections.
More to come.........
posted by Gabbita at 5:19 AM
1 Comments:
Yes, it is true. I agree that the Constitution of India though well written, our Politicians have made amendments to suit their vote-bank politics and to help their own cadre. After all, politics has become a business and politicians are no longer a serving community but a business community. Judicial intervention or judicial activism is becoming increasingly necessary.
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