Somnath, Amar out of OoP row

New Delhi: Bringing the curtains down on the disqualification petitions against several MPs including Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, the Election Commission is understood to have rejected the complaints against them that they held offices of profit.

The EC's opinion on the 13 MPs, including three ministers, comes nearly three weeks after President A P J Abdul Kalam gave his assent on a legislation which exempted more than 50 posts from being considered offices of profit.

The "first batch" of opinion concerning these MPs was sent to the President by the Commission yesterday.

However, the Commission was yet to give its opinion on complaints against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the charge that as Trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation they were holding offices of profit.

EC sources had earlier indicated that most of the petitions may be rejected in the light of Parliament passing an amendment to the law exempting some offices from disqualification.

Besides Chatterjee, who is also Chairman of the Santiniketan-Sriniketan Development Board, opinion has been sent in respect of SP leader Amar Singh, who is Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Council, Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar and Meira Kumar.

PAGE_BREAK

The EC has also sent its opinion in respect of Hannan Mollah, Amitava Nandi, Sudhanshu Sil, Bansagopal Chowdhury, Lakshman Seth, Matilal Sarkar (all CPI-M) and Anuradha Chowdhury

Recently, Kalam gave his assent to the controversial Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2006, a day after Parliament approved setting up of a Joint Committee to define what constitutes such an office.

The Presidential assent to the law with retrospective effect is expected to provide relief to these MPs.

Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy had said earlier that EC would abide by the legislation in deciding on the petitions.

The latest addition to the list against whom petitions are pending are the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister on the ground that they were holding offices of profit as trustees of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

The EC has not taken any decision in these two petitions and they were "under consideration".

However, under the latest amendment the office of Chairperson or trustee (by whatever name called) of any Trust, whether public or private, would not attract the punishment of disqualification clause.