LS Speaker denies holding any office-of-profit

New Delhi, May 24: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today asserted that he was not holding any Office-of-Profit as Chairman of the Srininketan Santiniketan Development Authority and questioned the wisdom of the Chief Election Commissioner in putting on the website his name among those guilty of the offence.

"There is not even an iota of truth in the allegations against him which were politically motivated," Mr Chatterjee said, adding that the Election Commission should have first checked the facts.

"If the allegations are proved, then I would not hesitate to step down from the Speakership," Mr Chatterjee told a news conference here.

The Speaker admitted that the post of the chairman of the SDA was statutory but it entailed no remunerations or any allowances.

Even the Supreme Court in its judgement has held that if a post was having any provision of any allowances or benefits it would be treated as an office-of-profit. But there was no such provision in the Santiniketan post. It could be verified from the very first letter of appointment given to him, he said.

The Speaker said his May 24 statement had clearly submitted that "any and every office under the Government is not and cannot be an office of profit. An office which does not provide for any 'profit' to the holder does not disqualify one from being a Member of Parliament." "I am convinced factually and legally and I assert with all the emphasis at my command, that I am not holding any office of profit, as the Chairman, Sriniketan Santiniketan Development Authority, and I do not enjoy any profit as chairman. The decisions of the courts and references to the provisions of the Parliament (Prevention Of Disqualifications) Act, 1959, will clearly establish the baselessness of the pretended complaint against me.

"Since 1989 I have been the Chairman of SSDA when it was first established as a statutory authority under the West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) Act, 1979. It is now for the first time irresponsibly alleged that I am holding an office of profit although I have been a Member of Parliament all along. I have not violated any provisions of the Constitution of India or any law of this country.

"On mere baseless allegations and insinuations and on the basis of reckless tantrums of some disgruntled persons, I shall not refuse to discharge my obligations as a Member of Parliament, to which my voters have sent me and also my duties as the Speaker of Lok Sabha, to which I have the honour of having been unanimously elected." Mr Chatterjee said the allegations were made by one Trinamool Congress leader in March but the allegations remained unsubstantiated till date, which "proves there is no iota of truth in the charges." On a question whether he had informed the Election Commission at the time of contesting the election that he was holding the position of the Chairmanship of the SSDA, Mr Chatterjee said it was not necessary as it was not an ''office of profit.'' Mr Chatterjee, however, preferred to keep himself aside from the controversy over the Motion on the Privilege Committee recommendation for admonition of former Lok Sabha Secretary-General S.C. Kashyap, adopted by the Lok Sabha yesterday. He said it was the Committee's recommendation.

He agreed with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi's stand that it was not necessary that the matter about the Motion should have come up before the Business Advisory Committee as demanded by the Opposition.

About the accusations made by the Opposition members against him describing him as 'tanashah' (dictator), Mr Chatterjee said it was a sad day for democracy. They were 'ridiculing' the office of the Speaker.

Asked what action he proposed to take against Mr Kashyap who was maintaining that he stood by what he had said in an interview to the private channel, Mr Chatterjee said he had nothing to say.

UNI