Kay Benedict

New Delhi: MPs, beware! Members of parliament with a penchant for misusing their power and position for family and business interests may be in trouble.

A parliamentary committee report on the “conduct of MPs”, to be tabled in the House next week, seeks to make it mandatory for MPs to disclose their private and business interests so as to bar them from voting on subjects where he or she has interest.

The report assumes added significance after shipping minister and DMK leader TR Baalu admitted on Wednesday to misusing his official position to seek a favour from the petroleum ministry for his family.

Chairman Chandra Singh Deo said the committee discussed “what could be construed as misconduct”.

The panel was set up at the behest of Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee after some MPs (11 were expelled) were caught on camera seeking bribes to raise issues in the House and others misusing their diplomatic privilege to traffic humans.

MPs will be barred from writing to ministers (like Baalu did) and officials seeking favours for their families or businesses. In an extreme case, a member can be expelled if he or she is found violating the guidelines. The speaker will take a final call on this.

The idea is to avoid conflict between business interests and parliamentary duties.

Once the recommendations are adopted, businessmenturned MPs will especially find it difficult to misuse the parliamentary system to further their business interests.

“The credibility of MPs and the system was hit and therefore, this committee was set up. Our report seeks to lay down parameters and guidelines for the members. Certain facilities given to us should not be misused. A self-correcting mechanism should be set up,” Chandra Singh Deo said.

Apart from Baalu, Union ministers Kamal Nath, Sharad Pawar, BK Handique and MPs Sukhbir Singh Badal, Navin Jindal, KG Reddy and Suresh Kalmadi, whose kin are in some business or the other, may not be allowed to vote in any matter connected with their ministries.

There are several businessmen-MPs, more in the Rajya Sabha, and some of them are members and even chairman of standing committees. There was a case of a member owning a private airline and becoming a member of the civil aviation committee.

If the recommendations are accepted, MPs will have to disclose their private/business interests and shareholdings in companies.The records will be constantly updated to include any fresh acquisition of interests by the members.

Source : DNA