Office of Profit: What do Articles 102(1), 191 (1)(A) say ?
A member of the Indian Parliament barred from holding an office that would give him/her the opportunity to gain a financial advantage or benefit.
The debate around the office of profit has come to the fore once again after the Election Commission recommended for the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs. With no clear definition available, we depend on Article 102(1)(A) and 191 (1)(A) for reference.
Article 102(1):
(1)
A
person
shall
be
disqualified
for
being
chosen
as,
and
for
being,
a
member
of
either
House
of
Parliament
(a)
if
he
holds
any
office
of
profit
under
the
Government
of
India
or
the
Government
of
any
State,
other
than
an
office
declared
by
Parliament
by
law
not
to
disqualify
its
holder;
(b)
if
he
is
of
unsound
mind
and
stands
so
declared
by
a
competent
court;
(c)
if
he
is
an
undischarged
insolvent;
(d)
if
he
is
not
a
citizen
of
India,
or
has
voluntarily
acquired
the
citizenship
of
a
foreign
State,
or
is
under
any
acknowledgement
of
allegiance
or
adherence
to
a
foreign
State;
(e)
if
he
is
so
disqualified
by
or
under
any
law
made
by
Parliament
Explanation.
For the purposes of this clause, a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State by reason only that he is a Minister either for the Union or for such State
A member of the Indian Parliament barred from holding an office that would give him/her the opportunity to gain a financial advantage or benefit. It refers to a post under central/state government which yields salaries, perks and other benefits. The actual amount of profit gained during the violation has no bearing on its classification.
India had the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1950, 1951, and 1953 exempting certain posts from being recorded as offices of profit.
All these Acts were replaced by the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959. By virtue of section 3 of the said Act, certain offices did not disqualify their holders from being members of Parliament. The law was again amended in 2006.
The representatives cannot hold an office of profit under section 9 (A) of the Representation of People Act and Article 191 (1)(A) of the Constitution also.
Article
191
(1)(A),
says,
"A
person
shall
be
disqualified
for
being
chosen
as,
and
for
being,
a
member
of
the
Legislative
Assembly
or
Legislative
Council
of
a
State
(a)
if
he
holds
any
office
of
profit
under
the
Government
of
India
or
the
Government
of
any
State
specified
in
the
First
Schedule,
other
than
an
office
declared
by
the
Legislature
of
the
State
by
law
not
to
disqualify
its
holder."
In 2006, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, resigned several posts under pressure from the political opposition who asserted that the posts were 'offices of profit' and thus unlawful. Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan was disqualified because she was also chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Federation. Two Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly members, Bajrang Bahadur Singh and Uma Shankar Singh, were disqualified in January 2015 due to holding government contracts.
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