Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to introduce three key bills — The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025 — in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The three bills will provide a legal framework for the removal of the prime minister, union ministers, chief ministers, and ministers in states and union territories who are arrested on serious criminal charges and are held in custody for 30 days.
What are the provisions and objects of the bills?
As per the bills, a prime minister, chief minister, or minister who is arrested and kept in custody for 30 consecutive days on allegations of an offence punishable with imprisonment of five years or more shall be removed from office on the 31st day.
The removal will be effected by the president in the case of the prime minister or union ministers, the governor in case of chief ministers, the chief minister in the case of state ministers, and the lieutenant governor in the case of the chief minister of a union territory.
According to a statement to Lok Sabha members on the objects of the bill, the elected representatives represent the hopes and aspirations of the people of the country, and their conduct and character should be beyond any ray of suspicion.
The statement further stresses the need to amend Articles 75, 164, and 239AA of the Constitution, saying there is currently no provision to remove a minister who is arrested on serious charges.
“There is, however, no provision under the Constitution for the removal of a minister who is arrested and detained in custody on account of serious criminal charges. In view of the above, there is a need to amend Articles 75, 164 and 239AA of the Constitution, for providing legal framework for the removal of the Prime Minister or a Minister in the Union Council of Ministers and the Chief Minister or a Minister in the Council of Ministers of States and the National Capital Territory of Delhi in such cases,” it added.
A step towards dictatorship, says the Opposition
The Opposition has reacted sharply to the government’s plan to introduce the three bills on the removal of the PM, CM, and ministers, calling it a step towards dictatorship.
“A step is being taken to move towards dictatorship in the country; if any person challenges the establishment of power, such people will be arrested overnight and sent to jail. India is on the verge of becoming Pakistan and Bangladesh, where opposition leaders are either in jail or abroad. An attempt is being made to adopt the same method inside India, which will be opposed…,” RJD leader Sudhakar Singh said.
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi called the bills unconstitutional and asked Who would arrest the Prime Minister?”
“All in all, the BJP government wants to make our country a police state through these bills…We will oppose them. The BJP is forgetting that power is not eternal,” Owaisi said.