NEW DELHI: Parliament on Wednesday approved a Bill seeking to exempt 56 posts, including the Chairpersonship of the National Advisory Council, from being considered as office of profit and attracting disqualification as Parliamentarians, with the Rajya Sabha approving it through a division.

BJP, allies walk out

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party and its supporting parties had walked out of the House after a voice vote and it was evident that the United Progressive Alliance and the Left Parties were in a majority, lone Trinamool Congress member Dinesh Trivedi insisted on a vote. As many as 109 members, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several of his ministerial colleagues, voted in favour of the Bill while three were against it.

In a combative reply that drew protests from the Opposition benches and compelled Deputy Chairman Rehman Khan to expunge some observations, Union Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj said it was the Janata Party Government that overturned a Constitutional amendment listing the prohibited offices. "We tried it once which was an easier method. But the Government which included Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L. K. Advani brought a law.''

Responding to pleas from the Opposition and Left Parties for a comprehensive law defining "office of profit", Mr. Bhardwaj said the Government welcomed unanimity but no definition could be coined without a Constitutional amendment. As Sushma Swaraj (BJP) pointed out that her party was against diluting the spirit of the relevant article in the Constitution and favoured a one-time exemption, the Minister pointed out that several offices of profit had been added over time, including the post of Leader of Opposition.

Initiating the discussion, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the Bill presented "an all-time low in Indian legislative history'': "More than anything else, this Bill was brought to preserve the Government in power. The bulk of the offices exempted show favours to the members from West Bengal. In any debate in the House, the Left parties attempt to occupy a high moral ground but in this Bill every office of profit that has been exempted has a face behind it. This is the price of support that the Left parties are trying to extract, virtually holding the Government to ransom. The holding point of the coalition is not the Common Minimum Programme but Common Minimum Profit.''

Mr. Trivedi also made the same charge against Parliamentarians from Left Parties and said he would approach the Supreme Court against the move. To this, the Law Minister said the Government had attempted to evolve a consensus in public good and to save money. C. Ramachandraiah accused the Government of "abusing'' the institution of Parliament by especially convening a session in which the "Government does not have business and the Opposition does not have the issues only to save the skin of certain individuals''.

Syed Aziz Pasha (Communist Party of India) delivered his maiden speech.

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