New Delhi, Aug. 17: The Lok Sabha today cleared a plan to set up a 15-member joint parliamentary committee for suggesting a comprehensive definition of office of profit.

The timing of the approval has fuelled speculation that the government wants to send a message that it is addressing concerns expressed by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who returned the bill unsigned.

The bill, eventually sent back to Rashtrapati Bhavan unchanged, is still with Kalam.

The joint committee of 10 members from the Lok Sabha to be nominated by the Speaker and five from the Rajya Sabha to be named by the chairman, will examine the constitutional and legal positions relating to office of profit.

The panel will be asked to submit a report by the first day of the last week of the next session of Parliament.

The motion was approved amid uproar from members of the Opposition and the CPI over the hurry with which it was tabled for approval. The BJP-led Opposition members later walked out in protest.

Parliamentary affairs minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi defended the approval, saying the government was only fulfilling a commitment made in Parliament while passing the Prevention of Disqualification of MPs bill.

The BJP later said the setting up of the JPC was a “vindication” of its demand. Outside the House, the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, demanded immediate resignation of all MPs who now hold offices of profit till the term was properly defined or the President signed the bill.

Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj rose to move the motion while farmers’ problems were being discussed in the House. Amid the din, the motion was passed and Bhardwaj left the House.

The bill was first passed by Parliament in May when several MPs, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, faced disqualification for holding “offices of profit”.

The bill essentially was a long list of offices which were to be exempt from disqualification under Article 102 of the Constitution.

Critics said it was quick-fix job and had not come up with a durable, long-term resolution of the issue.

President Kalam seemed to agree. While returning the bill, he had urged Parliament to come up with parameters defining office of profit and their uniform application across the country.

The panel is expected to examine the legal and constitutional aspects relating to the office of profit concept.

According to the law minister, the parliamentary committee could also study the law on prevention of disqualification as it existed in Britain.