THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- January 22, 2018 - Topic 2

Profit and loss: on AAP MLAs' disqualification

The Election Commission’s advice to the President that 20 legislators of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi are liable for disqualification will inevitably invite legal and political scrutiny. The party claims it was denied a hearing and alleges political motives behind the action. It has questioned the timing of the decision, just ahead of the Chief Election Commissioner’s retirement. 

Regardless of the charge of political malice, the correctness of the EC’s decision will be decided on legal grounds. The courts will have to rule on the question whether the post of parliamentary secretary, which these MLAs were holding, is an ‘office of profit’. They may also examine whether there was any violation of natural justice. Twenty-one MLAs were appointed parliamentary secretaries in March 2015. The Delhi High Court set aside the appointments in 2016 on the ground that the Lieutenant Governor had not given his approval. The EC has been hearing a complaint by an advocate that these legislators had incurred disqualification by holding these posts, which, he contended, were offices of profit. The key question was whether the post was an office of profit even after the Delhi government made it clear that parliamentary secretaries would not be eligible for any remuneration or perquisites. They were only allowed the use of government transport for official uses and office space in the respective ministries. The EC has answered the question in the affirmative, and the President has acted on it.

Going by Supreme Court decisions, the test to decide whether a post is an office of profit is the role of the government in appointing and paying the person concerned. In Jaya Bachchan, the court said it was an office of profit even if one did not actually receive payment; it was enough if some pay was ‘receivable’. In Raman v. P.T.A. Rahim, the court said only posts that are capable of yielding pecuniary gains, as distinguished from compensatory allowances, would be offices of profit. It is indeed true that the Arvind Kejriwal regime is politically disadvantaged because, unlike State governments, it cannot make many decisions without the Lt. Governor’s concurrence. It could not pass, as States have done, legislation to save the post from disqualification. The President withheld assent to a law it passed without the LG’s nod. However, Mr. Kejriwal should have been mindful of the growing perception, as evident in several judicial decisions, that the post of parliamentary secretary is a way of getting around the constitutional limit on the size of ministries. He could have avoided controversy by not appointing MLAs in posts that involved an executive role. After all, there can be no dispute over the principle behind the bar on legislators holding such posts: that there be no conflict between their duty and their interest.

Vocabulary

Liable: responsible by law; legally answerable.

Example: The supplier of goods or services can become liable for breach of contract in a variety of ways

Synonyms: responsible, legally responsible, accountable, answerable

Antonyms: insusceptible, irresponsible, unlikely, exempt

Scrutiny: critical observation or examination.

Example: Every aspect of local government was placed under scrutiny

Synonyms: examination, inspection, survey, study, perusal, investigation

Approval: the action of officially agreeing to something or accepting something as satisfactory.

Example: The road plans have been given approval

Synonyms: acceptance, agreement, consent, assent, permission

Antonyms: disapproval

Perquisite: a thing regarded as a special right or privilege enjoyed as a result of one's position.

Example: The wife of a president has all the perquisites of stardom

Synonyms: fringe benefit, perquisite, prerogative, perk, privilege

Affirmative: agreeing with a statement or to a request.

Example: An affirmative answer

Synonyms: approving, approbative, approbatory

Antonyms: negative, dissident, neutral, unfavorable, dissentient

Concern: a matter of interest or importance to someone.

Example: Oil reserves are the concern of the Energy Department

Synonyms: responsibility, business, affair, charge, duty, job, province

Antonyms: unconcern

Distinguish: recognize or treat someone or something as different.

Example: The child is perfectly capable of distinguishing reality from fantasy

Synonyms: differentiate, tell apart, discriminate between, tell the difference between

Antonyms: add, combine, complete, conjoin, fill up, increase

Perception: the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

Example: The normal limits to human perception

Synonyms: acquaintance, apprehension, cognition, cognizance

Antonyms: ignorance, illiteracy, inexperience, misapprehension

Conflict: a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one.

Example: The eternal conflict between the sexes

Synonyms: dispute, quarrel, squabble, disagreement, dissension

Antonyms: armistice, concord, peace, suspension of hostilities, truce