Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said PM Narendra Modi-led Centre strongly believes that no government in the country can be run from jail. He further stressed that the Opposition should not oppose the tabling of any Bill or constitutional amendment before Parliament by the elected government.
An official communique from the Ministry of Home Affairs, referring to the Union home minister’s interview with a news agency, highlighted Shah’s comments noting that there’s a provision in the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill 2025 that if the prime minister, chief minister, minister of the government of India or minister of the state government is arrested under any serious charge and is not granted bail within 30 days, then he or she would be relieved from the post.
Also, the minister stressed that not allowing any Bill or constitutional amendment Bill of the government from being presented in the House is not an appropriate behaviour exhibited by the Opposition in a democracy.
Both the Houses of Parliament are for debate and discussion and not for noise and uproar, Shah said, adding that this mentality of not allowing the Bill to be presented is not democratic, and the opposition will have to explain their actions to the people of this country.
According to the official document, the Union home minister stressed that he himself had made it clear that the constitutional amendment will be referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the two houses – the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
A two-third majority is required for the passage of this Bill and when voting takes place, all parties can give their views on it, he added.
The Bill, he clarified, is not against any Opposition party as it brings PM, CMs and ministers under its ambit irrespective of their party affiliation. Prime Minister Modi has himself brought the office of prime minister under the ambit of this constitutional amendment, he argued.
The minister slammed the Opposition, saying they are misleading the public by saying that FIRs are not filed against the people in the government. There is a provision that if bail is granted within 30 days, then there will be no action as per the Bill. Also, if there is a fake case, the courts of the country are there to grant bail, he said.
Shah said in any case, the high court and the Supreme Court have the right to grant bail and if bail is not granted, then the person will have to quit. The provision of imprisonment was not made by the BJP government, it has been going on for years.
He said since independence, many leaders, ministers and chief ministers have resigned and gone to jail. But now this trend has started that even after going to jail, they do not resign. Some ministers of Tamil Nadu, and the chief minister and ministers of Delhi did not resign. The secretary of the government, DGP, and chief secretary go to jail to get orders.
There should be a concern and a discussion on the issue, he contended.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that no minister, chief minister or prime minister in the country can run the government while being in jail, he said, adding the makers of the Constitution would not have imagined that any chief minister would go to jail and still remain the chief minister. We should not let the level of our moral values fall. This law will give a base to the level of moral values and will definitely strengthen our democracy, he added.