BANGALORE: The coalition of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) on Tuesday tabled the Karnataka Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill, 2006 in the Legislative Assembly for the exclusion of various offices from the purview of the office-of-profit clause.

Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Basavaraj S. Horatti introduced the Bill, and said it was comprehensive and excluded offices in educational institutions from the ambit of the office-of-profit clause. The purpose of the Bill was to amend the Karnataka Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1956 (Karnataka Act No. 4 of 1957), and prevent the disqualification of legislators occupying posts which could be termed "office of profit".

The Bill stated that legislators would not be disqualified for holding certain posts. They are: the offices of the Chairman, Speaker, Deputy Chairman, Deputy Speaker, Minister of State, Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Secretary, Leaders of the Opposition, Government Chief Whip in the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council; the offices of the president and vice-president of a Municipal Council under the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964; the Mayor or Deputy Mayor of a city with a Municipal Corporation constituted under the Karnataka Corporations Act, 1976; the offices of the president and vice-president of zilla, taluk, and gram panchayats constituted under the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993; the offices of the Chairman, Director and Member of a committee; the offices of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, President, Vice-President, Managing Director or Director, Principal Secretary or Secretary of a governing body or a member, by whatever name any of the aforesaid office is called, of any committee or of any society registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960, the Karnataka Cooperative Societies Act, 1959, or any other law related to registration of societies.

Mr. Horatti said the consequence of disqualification of members of the legislature on the ground of holding an office of profit included unnecessary expenditure and unforeseen financial burden on the State exchequer. In view of recent developments in this regard, it had become necessary to reconsider the issue of disqualification of members of the legislature on the ground of holding an office of profit.

Consequences

He said the Union Government had reconsidered the issue regarding the consequences of MPs holding offices of profit and passed the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill, 2006. In view of the Bill, it was proposed to amend the Karnataka Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1956 on similar lines.

The Law Minister said the proposed Bill would not only help the Government avoid unforeseen expenditures but also make available the rich experience of people's representatives to boards and corporations.

The Opposition, led by the Congress, said the coalition introduced the Bill on the office-of-profit issue in haste, and its intention was to retain power by appointing members as heads of boards and corporations.

Leader of the Opposition N. Dharam Singh said the coalition (of the Janata Dal-Secular and the Bharatiya Janata Party) tabled the Bill without discussing its pros and cons. Although the BJP opposed the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment) Bill, 2006, it supported the Bill here. There were contradictions in the Bill, he added. M. Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress) said the circumstances leading to the introduction of the Bill at the Centre and in the State were different. The situation at the Centre arose after the disqualification of Jaya Bachchan from the Rajya Sabha. No such a situation had arisen here and there was no need for tabling the Bill, he added.

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