Omkar Dattatray
The Jharkhand Chief Minister and leader of JMM may have to quit and leave the chief ministers post after he has been held guilty by the election commission in a case of office of profit case. The all powerful election commission has written to governor of Jharkhand to take action against the chief minister Hemant Soren and expel him from the membership of the lower house. The net effect of all this will be the ouster of Hemant Soren from the coveted post of Chief Minister. The JMM government of Hemant Soren may fail and there is possibility that Hemant may anoint his wife to be the chief minister. It seems that Hemans’s case is a clear case of the office of profit and thus he will be shown door ant time. The public servants and the representatives of the government are not allowed to indulge in the office of profit and Hemant may have to resign and quite office any time now. Some years earlier in the year 2006 Sonia Gandhi was removed from the membership of the Lok Sabha for holding the office of profit and similarly Jaya Bachchan was also shown the door by removing her from the membership of the upper house of the parliament. Hemant Soren besides being the chief minister is also holding the charge of the mining ministry and he has been contracting the business of the mining which amounts to using and indulging in the office of profit. Thus the chief minister of Jharkhand is holding the office of profit besides being the chief minister of the state of Jharkhand and so he will have to face the music and leave the post of chief minister in a clear case of the office of profit. No public servant can hold the office of profit besides being the chief minister or a minister. So very soon Hemant may have to leave the office and make room for either a new incumbent for the post of chief minister or alternatively he will have to tender his resignation and make room for the midterm elections in the state. The chief minister of Jharkhand will not remain the chief minister and also to do contracting business in his name and it is a clear case of the breach of trust and he may have to quite sooner than later and make room for the midterm poll in the state as the governor will either summon him or he himself will call on the governor to end the power crises in Jharkhand. All eyes are set on the Raj Bhawan and he may ask the CM to step down from the chair and seek his resignation because he is implicated in the office of profit case and the election commission has held him guilty of indulging in the office of profit and thus has written to the governor of the state for the necessary action against him so that Hemant may not indulge in the office of profit and he be made to resign to uphold the democracy and the law. It is a fact that no public servant can hold the office of profit when he is holding the position in a democracy and thus Hemant will have to leave his job after the election commission has found him guilty of the breach of trust and holding an office of profit besides being the chief minister of the state of Jharkhand. Therefore the chief minister of Jharkhand will have to step down from the chair so that the rule of law and constitution will be uphold in the interest of the state. Here it is in the fitness of things to know what actually is the office of profit and we should know the definition and meaning of the office of profit. The law does not clearly define what constitutes an office of profit but the definition has evolved over the years with the interpretations made in various court judgments. An office of profit has been interpreted to be a position that brings to the office holder some financial gain or, advantage. A number of the countries forbid members of the legislature from accepting an office of profit under the executive as a means to secure the independence of legislature and preserve the separation of powers. It is a term used in a number of national constitutions to refer to executive appointments. The term is used in article 102 {I} of the Indian constitution which bars a member of the Indian parliament from holding an office of profit that would give its occupant the opportunity to gain a financial advantage or benefit. It refers to a post under central /state government which yields salaries, perks and other benefits. India had the parliament {prevention of disqualification} Act 1950, 1951 and 1953 exempting certain posts from being recorded as office of profit. All these Acts were replaced buy the parliament, act of 1959. It is pertinent to note here that a sitting president, vice president, governor of a and minister of the union or any state is not deemed to hold any office of profit. The constitution empowers the parliament to declare certain offices of profit as exempted from the operation of article 102, so the holders of such offices will not come under the preview of the office of profit. An office of profit thus means a position that brings to the person holding it some financial gain or advantage or benefit or pecuniary benefit. It may be an office or place of profit if it carries some remuneration, financial advantage, benefit etc. A prime minister, chief minister, a centre cabinet minister, state cabinet minister, state ministers, members of state legislators, parliament members etc cannot hold any office of profit during the period/time they are holding any of these positions. The election commission has decided the case of office of profit in case of Hemant Soren and has asked the governor of Jharkhand to take appropriate action against the chief minister and so there is every likelihood of removing Hemant Soren from the membership of the legislative assembly and in such a case he will have to quite from the post of chief minister or in the alternative he and his supporters will anoint his wife for the post of chief ministership. The other possibility is that the chief minister will recommend the midterm polls in the state and in such a way the Chief Minister Soren will have to tender his resignation from the post of chief minister. Thus the office of profit has greater implications and bearings and many important heads roll because of the holding of the office of profit by the constitutional heads and therefore there is no wrong in the present decision of the election commission of asking the governor of Jharkhand to strip the position of chief minister to the Soren and thus the chief minister who has been found guilty of indulging into office of profit while working as the chief minister and the mining minister of the state. As he has taken the contract of mining so he is clearly guilty of indulging in the office of profit while being the chief minister and also holding the portfolio of mining ministry and therefore he is found guilty by the election commission. Thus he will have to sacrifice the chair of chief minister for this manipulation. Thus is it clear that the ministers, PM, CMs, ministers of the centre and states as well as the MOSs should not occupy any post of the office of profit during they work as the minister or the chief minister or the PM as the case may be. To conclude it can be said that members of the parliament, state legislatures, ministers etc are likely to be disqualified if they hold any office of profit. In the present case the chief minister Hemant Soren is holding the office of profit because he is playing a role of a mining contractor while being the chief minister and holding the portfolio of mining. Thus, he is likely to be disqualified from the membership of the legislative assembly of the state of Jharkhand and will also have to demit the Chief Minister’s post.
(The author is a columnist,
social and KP activist).