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Political structures almost entirely run on conventions and formalised mores. We borrow heavily from our English antecedents, especially in terms of organising what is called the state. With the recent recommendation by the Election Commission (ECI) to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs, two important conventions have been thrown into sharp relief.
The first convention of state practice comes from the Commons tradition of England. In the Act of Union 1707, the House of Commons sought to secure its independence from the Crown. As a result, the legislative body espoused the disqualification that “no person who has an office or place of profit under the King, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be capable of serving as a member”. The idea was to adopt a House that was free from the executive influence of the monarch (executive or government); against whom the tussle of power was underway. The US Constitution embodies a similar principle in Article I (6)(2) for its Senators and Representatives.
As such, the convention is better suited to Presidential forms of government because the government under the Parliamentary set-up sits in the Commons. Yet until 1919, Commoners lost membership to the House if they accepted appointments to ministerial positions. Unlike the Indian set-up, in the UK, Commoners do not have a right to resign; therefore, nominal positions of the “Crown Steward and Bailiff” are still used sparsely to terminate membership.
Article 191(1)(a) of the Constitution exemplifies the Office of Profit convention. Simply put, it is the holding of any public office (at the behest of the government) which leads to a pecuniary advantage. That is how the word “profit” qualifies the “office” under Article 191. It does not extend to positions which are ministerial (saved by Article 191(1)), nor does it cover posts which do not grant monetary benefits in the form of remunerations, profits,