Once bitten, twice shy. Or so it seemed at first. Jaya Bachchan was expelled from Parliament for holding an office of profit. Sonia Gandhi, anticipating trouble, quit Parliament and all offices of profit she held. Both returned to Parliament after re-election. All this while, MPs watched events with amusement. Suddenly, many MPs were threatened. They quickly passed the Office of Profit Bill which retrospectively exonerated them. Fifty-six offices of profit were legitimised.
The President was applauded for returning the Bill without signing it. He sought clarifications. In its present form he deemed the Bill legally questionable. Meanwhile, the MPs were nervous. The Election Commission could expel them before the hasty law to protect them was passed. They immediately returned the Bill without any alteration for the President to sign. Under the Constitution, the President had to sign the Bill returned by Parliament but there was no time limit for him to do so. For nine days, the President waited, refusing to sign.
In an unprecedented move, the PM met him and urged him to sign the Bill. The President held back. Parliament then appointed a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to address the President’s specific concerns about the Bill in its present shape. The situation became clear. Parliament itself, by implication, had admitted that the Bill in its present shape was dead unless recommendations of the JPC were incorporated. The JPC was to submit its report by the end of the next winter session of Parliament. That was more than sufficient time for the Election Commission to expel over 40 MPs attracting the existing law on office of profit.
Then, inexplicably, the President signed the existing unaltered Office of Profit Bill to make it law. All MPs under threat were let off the hook. Political observers were stunned. But nobody dared criticise the President. In effect, he signed a Bill which he himself thought legally questionable. If a petition against the law is now upheld by the Supreme Court to render it unconstitutional, will the President resign?
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)
