No changes made in the Office of Profit Bill

The Union Cabinet, which met on Saturday morning under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has decided to repass the Office of Profit Bill in its present form and send it back to President A P J Abdul Kalam for his signature.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later apprised President A P J Abdul Kalam of the Cabinet's decision not to make any changes in the controversial bill.

"The Prime Minister also apprised the President about the Union Cabinet's decision on the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Bill, 2006," Rashtrapati Bhavan Spokesman S M Khan said in a statement.

During the 25-minute meeting at the President's office on the Raisina Hills, Dr Singh said the two leaders discussed important matters of national interest, including the prime minister's visit to G8 summit at St Petersburg, Russia, and his interaction with world leaders there, Khan said.

Dr Kalam had returned the Office of Profit Bill without giving his assent, advising the government to have it reconsidered by Parliament to ensure that its provisions were applicable uniformally across the country instead of exempting a few selected offices with retrospective effect in view of the disqualification petitions pending against parliamentarians, including Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs minister and Cabinet spokesperson Priyaranjan Dasmunshi told media persons: "The message of the President will be read out first in the Rajya Sabha on July 25 and later in the Lok Sabha and the government will then move a motion to pass the Bill in its present form," Munshi said.

"The members of the political parties will give their views on the subject during the discussions but the government will move a motion in both Houses to pass the bill in its present form. The President, under powers vested in him vide Article 111 of the Indian Constitution, had returned the bill for reconsideration," Munshi said.

The bill was brought to protect a large number of parliamentarians and legislators who would have been disqualified under the Office of Profit Act, which said that a Member of Parliament or legislature could not hold another office during his tenure as a parliamentarian or a legislator, if it gave him or her monetary benefit.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and several other Parliamentarians may have been disqualified if the Bill had not been amended. Jaya Bachchan was also disqualified under the provisions of the same Act and Congress president Sonia Gandhi resigned from her seat to protect herself from disqualification on similar grounds.

With Agency Inputs