08-18-2006, 06:14 AM
<b>OOP issue --On backfoot, Govt sets up JPC on OoP </b>
<b>With President APJ Abdul Kalam so far withholding his assent to the Office-of-Profit Bill</b>, the Government on Thursday sprang a surprise in Lok Sabha by announcing the setting up of a joint parliamentary committee to examine the constitutional and legal position on offices of profit and suggest a comprehensive definition.
The move comes in the backdrop of increasing discomfiture in ruling circles about the likely course of action the President may take considering he had returned the Bill to Parliament for a re-look only to find it returned without any of his concerns addressed
the decision in a bid to mollify the President.
The Centre is anxious that the President expedites his assent to the Bill <b>as disqualification petitions against many UPA MPs, including Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee are pending with the Election Commission </b>
They also took exception to the haste with which Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj read the announcement about the JPC and walked off. Terming this as an insult to the House, NDA members walked out in a huff, while the Left and Samajwadi MPs expressed resentment.
It had been decided that before JPC is constituted, every member would quit the office of profit he is currently holding," BJP's Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.
"<b>The Government did not even announce the names of the members, and the Law Minister did not have time to address the queries of the members </b>
<b>The BJP-led NDA had urged the President to seek legal advice from the Supreme Court on the OoP Bill being passed in its original form</b>
<b>With President APJ Abdul Kalam so far withholding his assent to the Office-of-Profit Bill</b>, the Government on Thursday sprang a surprise in Lok Sabha by announcing the setting up of a joint parliamentary committee to examine the constitutional and legal position on offices of profit and suggest a comprehensive definition.
The move comes in the backdrop of increasing discomfiture in ruling circles about the likely course of action the President may take considering he had returned the Bill to Parliament for a re-look only to find it returned without any of his concerns addressed
the decision in a bid to mollify the President.
The Centre is anxious that the President expedites his assent to the Bill <b>as disqualification petitions against many UPA MPs, including Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee are pending with the Election Commission </b>
They also took exception to the haste with which Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj read the announcement about the JPC and walked off. Terming this as an insult to the House, NDA members walked out in a huff, while the Left and Samajwadi MPs expressed resentment.
It had been decided that before JPC is constituted, every member would quit the office of profit he is currently holding," BJP's Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.
"<b>The Government did not even announce the names of the members, and the Law Minister did not have time to address the queries of the members </b>
<b>The BJP-led NDA had urged the President to seek legal advice from the Supreme Court on the OoP Bill being passed in its original form</b>