The government is ready to bring three important bills in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, August 20, for establishing a legal framework for the ouster of the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, and state and Union Territory ministers if they are arrested on serious criminal charges.
Following a memorandum from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the government will introduce the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
What the Bills Propose
The bills to be introduced define that if the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, or any minister of a state or UT like Delhi is detained and is in custody for 30 consecutive days in relation to an offence which is punishable with imprisonment of a minimum period of five years, they shall have to resign on the 31st day. In case of failure to do so, they would be automatically disqualified.
Most importantly, the provisions are for those charged, rather than necessarily convicted. This makes the plans especially controversial since automatic removal based on ongoing investigations might lead to abuse of law and denial of due process.
Recent Context
The decision has come against the background of recent instances where incumbent chief ministers have been in jail. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren both spent weeks in judicial custody on allegations of corruption. Their cases resurrected controversies regarding whether government officials should remain in office when facing serious charges.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will most likely table a motion to refer the three bills to a joint committee of Parliament, anticipating stiff resistance from opposition benches.
Constitutional and Legislative Changes
The constitutional amendment bill proposes amending Articles 75, 164, and 239AA of the Constitution to include specific provisions for removal. Concurrently, the J&K Reorganisation Act would have Section 54 amended, and the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, would also be amended to include similar provisions.
While the constitutional amendment will need two-thirds support in Parliament, which the BJP-led NDA does not have at present, the two other bills can be approved with a simple majority. This paves the way for a fiery floor battle.
Opposition Concerns
The opposition has already indicated robust resistance, contending that the ouster of elected leaders based on charges erodes the democratic mandate and may usher in politically motivated cases. They have also attributed the timing of the action to the on-going protests against the Special Intensive Revision of voters’ rolls in Bihar, which has resulted in frequent disruptions to the monsoon session.
If sent to a joint parliamentary committee, the bills will be subject to exhaustive scrutiny before being taken up for voting. That said, with tempers already running high in Parliament, political analysts anticipate the debates to be tumultuous.
Speculation on restoring the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir so far has not been touched upon in these bills, as speculated before. The government, however, has preferred to remain narrowly focused on enacting removal provisions for ministers with serious legal issues.
These bills’ tabling on August 20 are set to dominate the parliamentary business, further escalating the confrontation between the incumbent NDA and opposition INDIA alliance.
