Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu continues to insist that he can be both culture minister in Punjab and have a continued presence on the hit TV programme The Kapil Sharma Show. However, the truth is as simple as current Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has stated: He cannot continue to hold an office of profit as well as be a state minister.
What Rohatgi said
Rohatgi told a TV channel in an interview: "The Constitution of India disqualifies a minister who holds an office of profit. There is a code of conduct. You will get government perks and salary, and hence you cannot hold an office of profit. There is a moral and ethical angle attached to the whole issue."
He was referring to Article 191(E) of the Constitution, which disqualifies MLAs from holding an office of profit. There are provisions under the Representation of People Act as well that call for disqualification of people as MLAs if they hold an office of profit, as happened in the case of the BJP's Bajrang Bahadur Singh and the BSP's Uma Shankar Singh in Uttar Pradesh in 2015.
All arguments invalid
Given these provisions, all arguments Sidhu and his boss — Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh — are giving do not hold water. Sidhu has — in an oblique reference to the BJP and its leaders who have been accused of corruption, said that he is neither a mining baron nor does he own a transport business, and that he only earns money through TV. However, if that is not an office of profit, what is?
The second argument that he has proffered — that he is working from 7 pm to 6 am for four days a week for the aforementioned TV programme, and so nobody should have a problem with it — is also invalid because a people's representative needs to, by definition, be always available to the people. This is especially important in case of emergencies, which may not be a regular occurrence under the culture ministry, but cannot be entirely ruled out.
The third argument, given by Amarinder that if Sidhu continues to work on the show he may have to be shifted to a different ministry, is equally invalid. If Sidhu continues to work on The Kapil Sharma Show, he will be disqualified as an MLA.
TKSS losing another member?
The Kapil Sharma Show, which is often referred to by its initials TKSS by fans, recently lost Sunil Grover — who played Dr Mashoor Gulati on the show — over a very public and much-discussed spat with host Kapil Sharma. It now remains to be seen whether Sidhu chooses his ministerial post over the show, in which case the TKSS will have lost yet another mainstay.
