A parliamentary committee has held that noted film-maker Shyam Benegal could attract disqualification from the Rajya Sabha if he became a member of the Prasar Bharati Board, which is an “office of profit”.
“The committee feels that Shyam Benegal, member, Rajya Sabha, if appointed as a part-time member of the board of Prasar Bharati may attract disqualification from the angle of office of profit in terms of Article 102(1)(a) of the Constitution,” Joint committee on offices of profit said in its report tabled in Parliament on Thursday.
Mr Benegal was proposed to be appointed as a part-time member of the Prasar Bharati Board after his name was recommended by a committee headed by vice-president Hamid Ansari on grounds of his eminence in public life.
Following this, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat sought to know whether the proposed appointment would attract disqualification provisions of the “office of profit”.
The offices of profit committee, headed by Samajwadi Party member Rewati Raman Singh, held that the meeting allowance paid to the Board members could be termed as pecuniary gain.
Noting that the functions of the board were executive, legislative and financial in nature, it said the Board confers powers of disbursement of funds and allotment of land, among other things.
“Since part-time members have voting power on all issues pertaining to the management of the corporation, the committee feel that the Board may wield influence or exercise power by way of patronage,” the report observed.
“The committee also note that meeting allowance of `2,000 per meeting (subject to a maximum of `5,000 per month) paid to the part-time members besides TA/DA etc. is in excess of the compensatory allowance defined in Section 2 (a) of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, as amended,” it said.