New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met President A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday and discussed the '
Office-of-Profit' issue in the wake of the Rashtrapati Bhawan returning to Parliament the Bill on the subject for reconsideration.
"The meeting lasted 30 minutes. The PM and the President discussed the current issues of national importance," a Rashtrapati Bhawan communiqué said.
Official sources said Dr Singh's meeting with the President was not to seek the reversal of Presidential decision.
He reportedly discussed different options within the ambit of the Constitution to save the government from the embarrassing situation caused by the President returning the Parliament (Disqualification of Members) Amendment Bill for reconsideration on Tuesday.
A final decision on the Office of Profit Bill will be taken by a meeting of the Union Cabinet later this week based on the discussion PM had with the President on Wednesday.
Dr Singh reportedly explained to the President the situation that prompted the government to come out with the amendment bill seeking to exempt 56 offices of profit from the purview of disqualification from Parliament.
He was also said to have explained why uniformity in the criterion for deciding offices of profit could not be ensured across all States and Union Territories.
While returning the Bill, President Kalam asked Parliament to look into the legal propriety of the legislation's applicability with retrospective effect.
He said the Bill's focus should be on evolving a comprehensive criterion, which would be fair and reasonable and applied across all States and Union Territories in a clear and transparent manner.
Under the Constitution, the government has to bring the Bill afresh in Parliament for reconsideration.
According to Article 111 of the Constitution, once cleared by Parliament again, with or without amendments, the President has to give his assent to the Bill.
In all probability, the Bill will be reintroduced in the monsoon session of Parliament in July.
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