| PRESS
RELEASES May 31, 2006 |
| Memorandum of the NDA Delegation Submitted to the Hon'ble Election Commission of India on 31.5.2006 We thank the Hon'ble Election Commission of India for agreeing to meet the NDA delegation at such a short notice, keeping in view the urgency and importance of the matter in public interest. It is learnt that the Hon'ble President of India has returned the Office of Profit Bill to the Government for re-consideration. The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) amendment Bill 2006 was sent for Presidential assent on 26 May, 2006. The Bill sought to notify 46 offices of profit with retrospective effect. It is learnt that the Bill has been sent back with the remarks that the Parliament must draft comprehensive criteria that are fair and reasonable and can be universally applied. It is also reported that the President has expressed his reservation about the propriety of applying the law with retrospective effect. The Bill provides that "these offices would be deemed to have been notified on the 4th day of April 1959". Incidentally some of the offices of profit were not even in existence on 4th April, 1959. For example, the office of the National Advisory Council was constituted only in 2004.Some offices with the same nomenclature and ambit of functions stand exempted in one state but not in another. On balance, the President seems to have felt that there should be no ad-hoc approach in adjudging an office of profit. In view of the above developments, the Bill has yet not been converted into an Act of Parliament. Even before the Bill was considered in Parliament the President of India had referred certain cases of Members of Parliament to the Election Commission of India seeking the latter's opinion on these cases. Article 103 of the Constitution of India provides for such a reference. Article 103 (2) states that " before giving any decision on any such question the President shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion. There is a parallel provision in Article 192 of the Constitution regarding disqualification of Members of Legislative Assemblies and Councils in the states, Certain Governors have also made similar references to the Election Commission of India regarding disqualification of MLAs and MLCs. A detailed list of such references referred to the Commission by the President/Governors is already available on the website of the Commission. The Election Commission of India had already given its opinion in regard to one member of Rajya Sabha based on which the President disqualified that MP with retrospective effect. While the Commission was still seized of other cases, some resignations took place obviously to escape disqualification and meanwhile the Parliament also passed the bill in reference. Certain questions arise in the backdrop of the above developments:-
Keeping all the above circumstances in view the NDA delegation would like to urge upon the Election Commission of India that they should process all the pending cases most expeditiously and furnish the opinion to the President of India on urgent basis. Even in cases of Members who happened to resign, the EC of India should adjudge on their disqualification during the period of holding office of profit and membership of Parliament/ Assembly without prejudice to the fact of subsequent resignation by the concerned member. Since the matter is one of urgent public importance, the NDA delegation would request the Election Commission of India to give its favourable response to our request and complete the work relating to the disqualification of members referred to them on an urgent basis without waiting for further developments in the enactment of the amending law.
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