New Delhi, July 24
Even as the monsoon session of Parliament got underway today, the UPA government and the Opposition found themselves locked in a confrontation over the controversial Office of Profit Bill.

Furious at the NDA’s request to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to seek the Supreme Court’s advice regarding the Constitutional validity of the Bill, the government slammed the Opposition for undermining the Parliamentary system of functioning, reiterated its decision to seek readoption of the original Bill and even rejected BJP’s plans to bring a second adjournment motion on the Mumbai blasts in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.

“The NDA’s advice to the President to approach the Supreme Court is an intrusion on Constitutional principles and an attempt to undermine the authority of Parliament and the Cabinet system,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said here today.

He said it was most shocking that the Opposition marched to the President with such a request even before the matter could be discussed in Parliament, adding that the BJP leaders had overlooked an important fact that as per Constitutional provisions, a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court can only be made on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

Mr Dasmunshi said when he and Lok Sabha leader Pranab Mukherjee met the BJP leaders on Sunday night to discuss the office of profit Bill, they suggested that they could support the legislation if it was limited to a one-time exemption. While assuring them that the government would look into this suggestion, the two ministers also disclosed the Cabinet’s mandate to set up a committee to look into the definition of office of profit. “But to our utter surprise we found this morning that the NDA had approached the President with this request.”