Jaya
Bachchan likely to lose RS seat
by Pankaj Yadav
New
Delhi: Veteran film actress and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya
Bachchan is likely to lose her Rajya Sabha berth after the
Election Commission (EC) reportedly recommended her disqualification
to the President of India. According to legal experts, the
President is bound by EC's recommendation.
Some
media reports said that after receiving the EC's recommendation,
the President would seek the opinion of the Central Government,
most probably from the Home Ministry. The EC is learnt to
have recommended Jaya's disqualification on the ground that
she was holding an office of profit as the Chairperson of
UP Film Development Board. Under the Constitution, the President
decides whether a sitting member (of either Rajya Sabha
or Lok Sabha) has incurred disqualification in consultation
with the EC. The EC recommendation came after the President's
Office forwarded a complaint (to the EC) filed by one Madan
Mohan, who was a losing candidate against Jaya in the RS
election from Uttar Pradesh. The complaint was field under
Article 102 and 103 of the Indian Constitution which bar
an MP from holding any office of profit under the Government
of India or in any state other than an office declared by
Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder. Madan Mohan
had filed the complaint in October last and the Commission
had conducted hearings in the case in which Bachchan was
represented by her lawyer.
Meanwhile,
a similar petition is pending against another SP Rajya Sabha
MP - Amar Singh, who is also the party's general secretary.
However, the Rajya Sabha's Secretary General Yogendra Narain
said that he had no official communication regarding the
disqualification of Jaya Bachchan. "As of now we have no
official communication. As and when we will have it we will
share it with you," Narain told ANI over phone. Efforts
were made to contact the President's Office to confirm the
disqualification of the SP member, but in vain.
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