President returns Office of Profit Bill

NEW DELHI: In a dampner on efforts to exempt a number of posts from the purview of Office of Profit, President A P J Abdul Kalam returned the Bill on the issue for recosideration by both houses of Parliament.

The criteria should be fair and reasonable and can be applied across all states and union territories in a clear and transparent manner, he said in his communication while returning the Bill that was passed in the just-concluded budget session of Parliament.

The other point on which the President is said to have reservation was about the propriety of applying the law with retrospective effect. He wants this also to be considered afresh, the sources said. Kalam, who received the Bill on May 25 for assent, took the decision after giving “careful” thought and wider consultation with judicial and legal experts, the sources said.

In the bill that was passed, 56 posts, including that of National Advisory Council Chairpersonhip, a post earlier held by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, were exempted from the definition of office of profit.