Opposition leaders accused the government of misusing investigative agencies to silence them.
Earlier this week, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three new bills in Parliament. These bills are being called the “corrupt net removal bills.” The proposals aim to automatically remove any minister, chief minister, or even the prime minister if they spend 30 consecutive days in jail on serious charges like corruption.
Amit Shah defended the bills as a step to clean politics. But the Opposition strongly disagreed. Members of several parties tore copies of the bills inside Parliament. They said the BJP is using this move as a political weapon.
Opposition leaders accused the government of misusing investigative agencies to silence them. They claimed the bills could be used to frame rival leaders in fake cases and remove them from power.
Critics argued that central agencies such as the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are often accused of working under political pressure. These agencies have investigated many Opposition leaders in the past decade.
An analysis by India Today’s OSINT team shows that since the BJP came to power in May 2014, at least 12 sitting ministers have been arrested. Most of these arrests were carried out by the CBI and the ED.
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Eight ministers spent more than 30 days behind bars before getting bail. If the new bills had been in force, all of them would have lost their positions.
Charges of corruption, money laundering, forgery, and tickery were brought against the detained ministers. The Saradha chit fund fraud, the West Bengal teacher recruitment scam, and the Delhi liquor policy scam were among the cases.
At least seven ministers were arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This law makes it difficult to secure bail, which means these leaders remain in jail for long periods.
The highest number of arrested ministers — five in total — came from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC). Four were from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), while one each belonged to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was the only sitting CM to be arrested. He spent more than 30 days in jail. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Hemant Soren resigned just before his arrest in a corruption case.
In September 2014, AIADMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was convicted in a corruption case and spent 21 days in jail. However, the Supreme Court later overturned her conviction. Under the new bills, she would not have been removed because she served less than 30 days.
No Arrests of BJP Ministers
The analysis also highlighted that no minister from the BJP or its allies has been arrested for serious offences in the last decade. Uttar Pradesh minister Rakesh Sachan was sentenced to one year in an old Arms Act case, but he was released on bail without arrest. He continues to serve in his post.
This has fueled claims by the Opposition that the bills are aimed mainly at non-BJP leaders.
The BJP says the new laws will bring accountability and ensure that those facing corruption charges cannot remain in power. But the Opposition warns that the move could damage democracy by making it easy for the ruling party to remove rivals through central agencies.
The debate is expected to intensify as the bills move through Parliament.
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