New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition filed by a Trinamool Congress MP challenging the constitutional validity of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Act, 2006. The Act exempts 45 offices from disqualification.

A Bench, comprising Justices K.G. Balakrishnan, P.P. Naolekar and D.K. Jain, issued the notice during "mention time" after senior counsel Harish Salve explained the urgency of the matter. He said the Act was intended to protect certain sitting members against whom disqualification petitions were pending before the Election Commission.

Petitioner Dinesh Trivedi said the Act, notified on August 18, was arbitrary and discriminatory. As admitted in the statement of objects and reasons, the Act was passed with retrospective effect solely to protect about 40 sitting members.

The Bill was passed for the second time in undue haste without any of the concerns raised by the President, while returning it on May 31, seriously addressed. The petitioner said the Joint Committee of Parliament on Office of Profit comprised 10 Lok Sabha members and five Rajya Sabha members. In the past, before an "office of profit" was exempted from the rigour of Article 102 (1) (a) (disqualification for holding office of profit), it was referred to the Joint Committee. This statutory practice was not followed in the present case, and the Joint Committee was given the go-by before the passing of the law.

"Exemption"

Before exempting wholesale the 45 offices of profit and that too with retrospective effect, the Joint Committee should have been asked to look into each of them and consider the concerns expressed by the President.

He sought a direction to declare the Act unconstitutional and an interim stay of its operation.

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