Joint Committee on Office of Profit

On 23rd July 2019, Lok Sabha has passed a resolution for setting up a joint committee to examine the issues related to offices of profit.

About the Committee

• The persons holding the office of profit are bound to be disqualified as members of parliament. The committee is vested with the mandate to recommend what constitutes an ‘office of profit’.
• The committee would comprise of 15 members with 10 members from Lok Sabha and 5 from Rajya Sabha.

Why the legislators are barred from holding Office of Profit

Members of the legislature are responsible for holding the government accountable for its work. If legislators hold an ‘office of profit’ under the government, they might be susceptible to government influence, and may not discharge their constitutional mandate fairly.

Hence barring officers from holding the office of profit the constitution ensures that there should be no conflict between the duties and interests of an elected member. The constitution also upholds the principle of separation of power between the legislature and the executive by barring legislators from holding the office of profit.

Definition of Office of Profit

There is no specific definition in the constitution for the office of Profit. Articles 102 and 191 empowers parliament and state legislatures from providing immunity to legislators occupying a government position if the office in question has been made immune to disqualification by law.

In the pursuit, the Parliament has enacted the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, and has amended the act several times to expand the exempted list.

The definition of the office of profit has been evolved over the years from various interpretations made in various court judgments. The verdict of the Supreme Court in 1964 ruled that the test for determining whether a person holds an office of profit is the test of appointment. Several factors are considered in this determination including factors such as:

• Whether the government is the appointing authority.
• Whether the government has the power to terminate the appointment.
• Whether the government determines the remuneration.
• What is the source of remuneration?
• The power that comes with the position.

Hence an office of profit has been interpreted to be a position that brings to the office-holder some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. The amount of such profit is immaterial.