Modi government preparing to change 65 year old law, new rules will be made regarding disqualification of MPs in office of profit case

New Delhi : The central government is planning to repeal a 65-year-old law that provides grounds for disqualification of MPs for holding office of profit. The government is planning to bring a new law, which will be in line with the current requirements. The Legislative Department of the Union Law Ministry has introduced the draft of the ‘Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Bill, 2024’ prepared on the basis of the recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Offices of Profit (JCOP) headed by Kalraj Mishra in the 16th Lok Sabha.

Preparation to remove negative list

The objective of the proposed Bill is to rationalize Section 3 of the existing Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 and to remove the negative list of posts given in the Schedule, the holding of which can disqualify a public representative. It also proposes to remove the conflict between the existing Act and some other laws which have express provision for non-disqualification.

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Also proposed to remove section 4 of the law

The draft bill also proposes to delete section 4 of the existing law relating to ‘temporary suspension’ of disqualification in certain cases. There is also a proposal to give the Central Government the right to amend the schedule by issuing a notification in its place. While seeking public opinion on the draft Bill, the Department reminded that the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 was enacted so that certain offices of profit under the Government shall not disqualify their holders for becoming or being elected as Members of Parliament.

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Report after extensive review

However, the Act contains a list of posts the holders of which shall not be disqualified and also lists of posts the holders of which shall be disqualified. Parliament has made amendments to this Act from time to time. The Joint Parliamentary Committee during the Sixteenth Lok Sabha presented a report after comprehensively reviewing this law.

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The Committee stressed the need to take into account the obsolete entries in the existing law of the Law Ministry. One of its key recommendations was that the term ‘position of profit’ be defined ‘broadly’.