Punjab Governor gave nod to legislation on ‘office of profit’

Punjab Governor VP Singh Bandore has given his consent to the amended Punjab State Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1952.

Facts :

• It will enable the lawmakers to be appointed as chairpersons without facing disqualification on the grounds of holding “offices of profit”.
• After the culmination of the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls, the appointments will come through the approval of the party leadership.
• Through the amendment, seven more categories of positions will be out of the ambit of “office of profit”. These categories include any office held by a minister (including the CM), Minister of State or Deputy Minister (whether ex officio or by name).

Background :

After Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore refused to give his assent to an ordinance allowing MLAs to hold office of profit, the state government tabled the Bill on the issue in the Punjab Legislative Assembly.The Cabinet gave its nod to Punjab State Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

The bill would enable MLAs to hold several new categories of ‘Office of Profit’ and shield lawmakers from disqualification for holding them.

Amendments Proposed : With the amendments proposed in the Bill, various categories of office of profit are added to the current list of positions/offices which MLAs can hold without inviting disqualification.

The amendments include :

a)Incorporation of a new Section 1A to provide for the definitions of “compensatory allowance”, “statutory body” and “non-statutory body”.

• As per Section 1(A), “compensatory allowance” would mean any sum of money payable to the holder of an office by way of daily allowance, any conveyance allowance, house-rent allowance or travelling allowance for the purpose of enabling him to recoup any expenditure incurred by him in performing the functions of that office.

b).Insertions and additions have also been made to the categories of offices of profit under Section 2 of the said Act under the Bill.

• The Section 2 of the Act includes any office held by a minister (including the Chief Minister), minister of state or deputy minister, office of chairman, vice chairman, deputy chairman, state planning board, office of (each leader and each deputy leader) a recognised party and a recognised group in the Vidhan Sabha, office of chief whip, deputy chief whip or whip in the Assembly.
• The Bill amends Section 2 to include the office of chairman or member of a committee, set up temporarily for the purpose of advising the government or any authority on a matter of public importance or for making an inquiry if the holder of such office is not entitled to any remuneration other than compensatory allowance.
• This also includes the office of chairman, director or member of any statutory or non-statutory body, if the holder of such office is not entitled to any remuneration other than compensatory allowance. With the Act, the MLAs would be allowed to hold offices of chairpersons of various boards and corporations.

Analysis :

• The Governor’s assent to Punjab State Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1952 entitled MLAs to get compensatory allowance as chairman, members of advisory, inquiry panels too which the Act prohibits elected representatives from doing so.
• The apex court has already fixed an upper limit for the number of ministers, this is a step against the constitution and an attempt to circumvent the law to give backdoor entry to accommodate party MLA’s.
• The move to bring a law on office of profits for MLAs goes against the tall claims of the Congress of observing austerity and shun VIP culture. “It is all a question of giving status symbols in order to check infighting among the Congress MLAs.
• It is being seen as the ruling Congress’ bid to placate disgruntled party MLAs left out in the cabinet expansion that took place in April this year.
• MLAs from Scheduled Caste and backward classes who had aired resentment over inadequate representation to the community are being adjusted, however, Govt view is that the amendments are aimed at addressing the “complexities of modern day governance”.
• Though most of Punjab’s 60-odd boards and corporations are in the red, some, such as state planning board, Markfed, Milkfed, Mandi Board, Punsup and Punjab Agro are seen as plum postings. Only eight boards and corporations in Punjab can have an MLA as chairman.
• The state government has been treading cautiously on the issue to avoid getting caught in legal tangles as various high courts have come down on lawmakers for holding office of profit and 21 AAP legislators in Delhi were disqualified by a court last year for this.
• The long wait for the Congress MLAs waiting to be appointed as chairpersons of various boards and corporations will be over soon.

Restrictions on Office of Profit :

• Articles 102(1)(a) and 191(1)(a) of the Constitution bar an MP or MLA from holding an office of profit- a position that can yield some financial benefit. It can attract disqualification from either House of Parliament, if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or any state government, other than an office declared by Parliament by law that does not disqualify its holder.
• Under the Representation of People Act too, holding an office of profit is ground for disqualification.
   

By: Harman Sandhu