Law & Practice Relating to Office of Profit

About Law & Practice Relating to Office of Profit

‘Office of Profit’ has generated a great deal of interest in the political circles in the past few months. This term, though not clearly understood by many, has become the subject of animated discussion.Articles 102 and 191 of the Constitution provide for the disqualification of a person from being a member of the Legislature if he holds an office of profit under the Government. However, these Articles empower the Parliament and the State Legislatures to declare by law that a particular office will not disqualify its holder. In pursuance of Article 102, Parliament enacted the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959. This Act declares that the offices listed in its various sections do not disqualify their holders. The States, too, have enacted their independent Acts.The basic problem that arises in the context of ‘office of profit’ is that this term has not been defined anywhere. It is interesting to note that neither the English Act nor the Indian Act has attempted to define it. A catena of cases decided by the English courts, the Indian courts and the Tribunals have analysed in clear terms the hitherto undefined term ‘office of profit’. As these cases arose under diverse circumstances, each decision of the Court or Tribunal laid emphasis on one or a set of factors. Though no definition of the term is available, much of the obscurity of the law on this subject has been removed through these decisions.This book is a sincere attempt to explore the frontiers of the law on office of profit and explain it in lucid terms to enable the readers to get a clear view of it. It also traces the history of the evolution of this obscure law. To make the book comprehensive and self-contained, State Acts and the House of Commons Disqualification Act, 1975 and the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, as amended by the 2006 Amendment Act have been given as Annexures.