Govt plans Bill to shield Par Secys from disqualification

Rajesh Kumar n New Delhi

The AAP Government is bringing a Delhi legislative Assembly Members (Prevention of Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 —seeking to keep the office of parliamentary secretaries out of the “office of profit” category — in the six-day Budget Session beginning on Tuesday. 

The Pioneer had earlier carried a story that the Delhi Cabinet has approved a proposal to put Parliamentary Secretary outside the purview of office of profit. Both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Jaya Bachchan, who was Rajya Sabha member from Samajwadi Party (SP), had to resign from the lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively following allegations of holding office of profit in 2006. 

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Monday announced that Delhi legislative Assembly Members (Prevention of Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 along with four other Bills would be tabled in the House during the Budget Session. However, copy of the Bill is yet to be forwarded to the Assembly Secretariat. 

On the other hand, a petition seeking disqualification of 21 Parliamentary Secretaries has been moved by one Prashant Patel before the President of India. The petitioner has alleged that these Parliamentary Secretaries were holding office of profit as they were availing transport and other facilities on the Government expense. The NCT Delhi Act is silent on the issue of parliamentary secretary’s post.

A highly-placed source said that President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to seek advice from the Election Commission of India and constitutional experts on the contentious issue. In 1993, the BJP Government in Delhi had appointed one Parliamentary Secretary. Even the Sheila Dikshit Government in 1998 had appointed one Parliamentary Secretary. 

In her third term, the Dikshit Government had appointed three Parliamentary Secretaries. A petition to this effect has also been filed before the Delhi High Court and hearing will be held on July 1.According to an constitutional expert, there is no provision of the post of Parliamentary Secretary in the Act. Only two posts —chairpersons of the Delhi Commission for Women and the Delhi Khadi Board -- have been excluded from the office of profit post in the national Capital.

An office of profit means a position that brings to the person holding it some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. It may be an office or place of profit if it carries some remuneration, financial advantage and benefit. The amount of such profit is reportedly immaterial.The AAP Government had recently approved an amendment to segregate the post of the Parliamentary Secretaries from the office of profit. With this amendment in place, the legislators who have been appointed as the Parliamentary Secretaries could very well remain in their respective posts. 

The Government had earlier claimed that Parliamentary Secretaries would not be receiving any remuneration or any perks of any kind from the administration, thus putting no burden on the State exchequer.

The administration had also made it clear that the Parliamentary Secretaries could, however, use Government transport for official purposes and space in the Minister’s offices would be provided to them to facilitate their day-today works.

The Delhi Cabinet had approved the amendment proposed by the department of law, Justice and legislative Affairs. Extreme care was taken that content of the Cabinet proposal could not go beyond the secret group of trusted officials and Cabinet Ministers. In fact, all previous Congress and BJP Governments, the number of Parliamentary Secretaries was either one or two. But the Kejriwal Government had appointed 21 AAP MlAs as Parliamentary Secretaries to the Ministers for their smooth functioning.