Office-of-profit issue: Speaker may not preside over House

New Delhi, May 9: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today gave ample indications that he may not preside over the House proceedings till the controversy over his holding an office-of-profit is resolved.

Mr Chatterjee, who held an all-party meeting here on the eve of the post-recess Budget session of Parliament, remained non-committal whether he would be chairing the post-recess Budget session of Parliament starting tomorrow.

Asked if he would be chairing the House tomorrow, Mr Chatterjee merely said ''You are intelligent people. If any subject is discussed in which the Presiding Officer is interested, there are well established conventions". Mr Chatterjee, who was also accused of holding an office of profit in the West Bengal Government, and is facing a petition for disqualification, had stayed away from the Lok Sabha when the issue of MPs holding Office-of-Profit was raised in the House. The session was suddenly adjourned on March 22.

A host of petitions have been pending before the Election Commission seeking disqualification of numerous MPs and MLAs on the ground of holding an Office-of-Profit.

SP's Mrs Jaya Bachchan was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha on the same charges for holding the office of chairperson of the UP Film Development Board.

UNI

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