New Delhi, May 31
Buoyed by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s decision to return the Bill pertaining to Office of Profit, the NDA today urged the Election Commission to process all pending cases pertaining to Office of Profit expeditiously and furnish the opinion to the President on an urgent basis.
An NDA delegation led by its convener George Fernandes and comprising Leader of Opposition L. K. Advani, handed over a three-page memorandum to the EC which, without naming Congress President Sonia Gandhi, said: “Even in cases of members who happened to resign, the EC 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 member concerned.”
The memorandum put forth three arguments before the election panel to impress upon the need for the EC to expedite the pending cases against 56 MPs on the Office of Profit issue.
“Pending the promulgation of the amending Act, the Election Commission of India should not suspend its work of formulating its opinion on the references made to the commission. It does not appear advisable to bunch the references either and formulate the opinion only after all necessary evidence in respect of all references is collected,” it said.
“While one member(read as Ms Jaya Bachchan) is disqualified retrospectively, can another member(read as Ms Sonia Gandhi) similarly placed escape disqualification either by resigning or being protected by the efflux of time till a corrective law is promulgated?
“The discriminatory treatment in respect of MPs and legislature by some of them being proceeded against while others are protected —will appear to attract the provisions of Article 14 and 15 of the Constitution which provide for equality before law, equal protection of laws and non-discrimination,” the memorandum said.
Emerging out of the meeting, Mr Advani told newspersons that “the EC was receptive to our arguments and said it was a legal issue which it will bear in mind.”
Mr Advani said the delegation urged the EC to take its decision on all pending cases, even if Parliament was to pass the same Bill again, whereby giving no option to the President but to give his assent.
However, this will not take away the rights of the EC to adjudicate all pending matters, he said.
“In the event of the disqualification of Ms Gandhi with retrospective effect, the vacancy will have to be created retrospectively and from the day she held an Office of Profit and not from the day she resigned. The perks and benefits received during this period should be recovered,” Mr Advani said.
Describing the development as “unprecedented” as there was hardly any precedence when the government faced the embarrassment of a major Bill being returned by the President, along with questions, Mr Advani said on a previous occasion when the President had not given his assent, the government had not pressed him.
