Ajay Kumar Verma
While the report is likely to retain the contentious clause that proposes the automatic removal of the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, or other ministers from office if they are arrested and detained in custody for 30 consecutive days for serious offences, there could be notes of caution to ensure that the law is not misused for political vendetta, sources said.
The Bill will be taken up in the Monsoon Session of Parliament, likely to begin on July 20, for consideration and passage, sources said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Bill in August last year, and a 31-member parliamentary panel chaired by BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi was formed to examine it.
Most members of the panel from the INDIA opposition bloc, including from the Congress, boycotted the proceedings, arguing that participation was pointless as the ruling party would override the opposition’s concerns and use the panel as a rubber stamp to clear the Bill.
Members of the panel belonging to the ruling coalition, it is learnt, rejected the opposition’s argument that the provisions in the proposed law are undemocratic, anti-federal and contradict the bedrock principle of natural justice by punishing public representatives purely based on custody rather than conviction.
The treasury benches, it is learnt, argue that 30 days are enough to seek bail at least thrice and, therefore, the legislation does not violate the principle of natural justice.
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However, the panel’s members – be it from the ruling coalition, the opposition and neutral parties – are convinced that the draft Bill should add provisions to avoid misuse of the law, sources said. This suggestion will be part of the recommendations, they added. The committee is also expected to recommend curbs or a threshold regarding the nature of the crime for provisions of the proposed law to apply.
Opposition MPs on the parliamentary panel are likely to give a dissent note on the report, sources said.
While the BJP and its allies in the NDA dominate the panel, it also has AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule as members. YSRCP’s S Niranjan Reddy, a Rajya Sabha MP, is also part of the 31-member committee.
The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, provides for the removal of a minister if he/she is accused of an offence punishable with five or more years of imprisonment, and has been arrested and detained for 30 consecutive days. The removal, according to the proposed Bill, can be directed by the President or Governor upon the advice of the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister, respectively, or automatically on the 31st day of detention.
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