Opposition Storms Lok Sabha as Amit Shah Introduces Controversial Bills on Arrested Ministers
Under proposed legislation, a Prime Minister, Chief Minister, or minister facing charges with a minimum five-year jail term could lose their post if detained for 30 consecutive days. On Wednesday, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three contentious bills in the Lok Sabha amid a massive uproar and continuous sloganeering.
The bills—the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill—provoked immediate protest. Opposition members called the legislation “draconian” and claimed it could be misused to destabilise states governed by non-BJP parties through arbitrary arrests of ministers and chief ministers.
As Shah proposed sending the bills to a joint committee for examination, Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee and other opposition leaders tore copies and threw them at the Home Minister, with paper fragments visibly falling near him. Currently, no provision exists to remove a sitting minister solely for being accused of a serious crime.
During the clash, Lok Sabha saw a brief exchange between Shah and Congress MP KC Venugopal, who brought up Shah’s arrest in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
Venugopal said, “This bill violates the basic principle of the Constitution. When Amit Shah was Home Minister of Gujarat, he was arrested. Did he uphold morality then?”
Shah responded sharply, stating, “I had resigned on moral grounds before my arrest and did not hold any constitutional post until cleared by the court. There were false allegations, and in 2014, a special CBI court acquitted me for lack of evidence.”
Opposition Leaders Criticise Bills
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi called the bills an attempt to turn India into a “police state,” claiming, “It gives executive agencies a free run to act as judge and executioner based on flimsy allegations… This government is hell-bent on targeting elected governments.” He even compared the bills to the Gestapo, Hitler’s secret state police.
Congress MP Manish Tewari described the legislation as “squarely destructive” to the Constitution’s basic structure. “The bill opens the door for political misuse by state instrumentalities whose arbitrary conduct has repeatedly been condemned by the Supreme Court,” he said.
The Supreme Court has recently expressed concern over the conduct of central agencies, especially the ED, warning that their actions have at times crossed limits and appeared to be used for political battles.
What the Bills Propose
According to the draft laws, any Prime Minister, Chief Minister, or minister arrested on charges carrying five years or more of imprisonment and held in custody for 30 consecutive days will automatically be removed on the 31st day. However, the bills allow reappointment after release.
The move comes against the backdrop of past incidents when leaders such as former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji continued to hold office despite being in jail.
