Plea made for defining 'office of profit'

The disqualification of Jaya Bachchan from the Rajya Sabha had its echo in the Lok Sabha on Saturday with a Communist Party of India (Marxist) member making a strong plea for a Central legislation to define the term 'office of profit'.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, V Radhakrishnan said Parliament alone should decide this matter and, therefore, the government should come forward with a legislation to define what was an 'office of profit' and what was not.

This, he said, was necessary as the term has not been properly defined in any statute. The issue, he said, needs to be dealt urgently as there were many cases pending in this regard with the Election Commission, which had recommended Bachchan's disqualification.