The Election Commission (EC) has sent a notice to Jharkhand CM over an office-of-profit charge against him for allotment of a mining lease in his name last year.
Context
The Election Commission (EC) has sent a notice to Jharkhand CM over an office-of-profit charge against him for allotment of a mining lease in his name last year.
What is ‘Office of Profit’?
- MPs and MLAs, as members of the legislature, hold the government accountable for its work.
- The essence of disqualification is 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.
- The intent is that there should be no conflict between the duties and interests of an elected member.
- Hence, the office of profit law simply seeks to enforce a basic feature of the Constitution- the principle of separation of power between the legislature and the executive.
Factors constituting an ‘office of profit’
- The 1959 law does not clearly define what constitutes an office of profit but the definition has evolved over the years with 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, or benefit. The amount of such profit is immaterial.
- In 1964, the Supreme Court 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
