OJ's Corner PROFIT OFFICE

It appears the Office of Profit conundrum has been cleared, with various political parties relishing a piece of the cake.

At one stroke, 56 offices were exempted from the purview of Office of Profit with retrospective effect from April 4,1959, when the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act 1959 came into force.

Both Houses of Parliament, the other day, passed the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill 2006 byh which 56 more offices were exempted from the definition of Office of Profit so that legislators can hold such dual positions.

The exemption pertains as well to the National Advisory Council of which Sonia Gandhi was its chairperson.

One does not need to be a hair-splitting analyst to conclude that the issue has been over-politicised and that at the end of it all, it has been a storm over a tea-cup.

The rival candidate of Jaya Bacchan had challenged her Rajya Sabha membership on the Office of Profit score. The Election Commission took due notice of it and referred it to the President, who on a legal plank disqualified her.

Many major political parties were involved int his quagmire. The leaders concerned were such as Sonia Gandhi, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, BJP's V K Malhotra and other heavy-weights.

When the issue hogged the limelight, there was an attempt at issuing n ordinance exempting such offices from the purview of Office of Profit so that the leaders could continue.
The hue and cry was why it was not brought in as a bill when Parliament was in session. Actually there was no breathing time left for the Treasury Benches to get the bill passed by both Houses of Parliament.

Since the onus was honest, to save al the legislators cutting across party lines, it could have been settled by consensus and the ordinance could have been carried.

Then all hell broke loose and political polemics took over. All ammunition was let loose on Sonia Gandhi, who courageously resigned all the posts in question in addtion to her membership in the Lok Sabha.

In fact, her action made political pygmies out of her rivals. None of her opponents were prepared to seek re-election. Their bravado in criticising her each and every action was tantamount to political chicanery.

BJP's L K Advani has been making the loudest noise, attempting to steal some lime light somehow, in the wake of the RSS and decisive sections of the BJP jettisoning him after his Jinnah sermon. The sad plight of a Prime Ministerial stuff!

The legislative process has been derived from the British system. But there those holding Office of Profit cannot hold the post of a legislator simultaneously. Dual position is completely ruled out.

Here People's Representatives have double advantage, which gets accumulated with the passage of time.

Without the present piece of legislative amendment, about 40 legislators, including MPs, MLAs, and MLCs, would have lost their seats. By-elections to all these constituencies would have been a wasteful expenditure.

The situation smacks of a scuffles at the eating table even as all are gobbling down the choicest dishes.