Bachchan's disqualification led to the realisation that over 40 other MPs might also be liable to be disqualified and unseated from their houses for holding offices of profit under various governments.

They included Congress president Sonia Gandhi, then holding the office of chairperson of the National Advisory Council to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who held an office in the Sriniketan Shantiniketan Development Authority.

Gandhi quit both her chairpersonship of NAC as well as her Lok Sabha membership, which she regained after contesting a by-election. But other MPs, mostly belonging to Left parties supporting the Congress-led government, clung on to their membership of the House.

This led the government, said the petitioner, to introduce and get passed from the Lok Sabha 'in undue and indecent haste' on May 16 the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Act, 2006.

The law was passed by the Rajya Sabha the next day and sent to the President for his assent May 25. The president returned the bill May 30 for reconsideration by parliament, pointing out various anomalies in the bill.

But the government again got it passed within days without any change. In July 2006, it was submitted to the president who approved it Aug 18, 2006. It was notified in the official gazette the same day.