It is also expected that Shah will move a motion in the Lok Sabha to refer these three bills to a Joint Parliamentary Committee.
Published Aug 20, 2025 | 10:41 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 20, 2025 | 11:37 AM
Amit Shah in Parliament. (Screengrab)
Synopsis: Union Home Minister Amit Shah listed three bills in the Lok Sabha for the removal of the prime minister, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers if they are arrested and detained for thirty consecutive days for serious charges. Meanwhile, Opposition parties slammed the bills, saying it was aimed at toppling governments.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, 19 August, listed three bills in the Lok Sabha for the removal of the prime minister, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers if they are arrested and detained for thirty consecutive days for serious charges.
The bills, Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill 2025; the Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill 2025; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2025, are expected to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
According to the bills, if a minister holding the office is arrested and detained in custody for thirty consecutive days on allegation of committing an offence under any law, which is punishable with imprisonment of five years or more, shall be removed from office.
The development comes at a time when the Opposition parties have been raising allegations that the Union government led by the BJP is using central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI to target ministers and office bearers of Opposition-ruled states.
According to the bills, the President, Governors, and Lieutenant Governors can remove the arrested leaders from their office if they do not resign by the 31st day of their arrest.
It is also expected that Shah will move a motion in the Lok Sabha to refer these three bills to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
Meanwhile, Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi claimed that the bills were an attempt to divert the attention of the public away from the vote theft allegations.
“The bills of Home Minister Amit Shah are nothing but a desperate attempt to divert the attention of the public away from the blistering Vote Adhikar Yatra of Shri Rahul Gandhi,” he said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said the bills are being brought to topple state governments.
“When vote-chori is exposed, Modi-Shah looking for new tricks. New Bill being brought today to allow CBI-ED to directly topple state govts for the BJP. A person is a criminal ONLY when convicted by a court of law. Until then, they’re an “accused”. You can’t remove a CM/Minister on mere accusation. Arrest by Modi-Shah’s Central Agencies is NOT proof of guilt,” he wrote in a post on X.
He also noted that, in the last 11 years, there have been no arrests of any Union or state ministers of the BJP and that arrests were only of Opposition leaders.
DMK spokesperson and former Rajya Sabha MP TKS. Elangovan said the move is a deliberate attempt to suppress the Opposition.
“It is wrong to punish someone without proving guilt. As per existing laws, under the Representation of the People Act, an MP or MLA loses their post only if they are convicted and sentenced to at least two years in prison. Even then, they can contest elections and return to Parliament or the Assembly after six years,” he said.
“But under this new proposal, even if charges are not proven, an elected representative would lose their position simply for being jailed for 30 days. For instance, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was recently arrested and jailed. In such cases, their position would be lost immediately.”
“Tomorrow, even the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin could be jailed under some pretext, and his post could be taken away. This law is being brought in solely to take revenge on opposition leaders. The so-called ‘one-month clause’ will not stand judicial scrutiny, but still, the Union government is trying to push it through,” he added.
When asked about the case of former minister Senthil Balaji, who was jailed and is now out on bail, Elangovan said: ‘Yes, if this law comes into effect, he would also lose his MLA post. This is clearly part of a larger plan to politically target and take revenge on Opposition parties.’”
Leaders of Opposition parties have long been claiming that the BJP is using central agencies to arrest and intimidate leaders of Opposition parties.
In March 2023, sharing a dais with his Tamil Nadu counterpart and DMK supremo MK Stalin in Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the Union government was misusing central agencies for persecuting the BJP’s political rivals.
In the same month, leaders of nine Opposition parties, including the then-Telangana chief minister and BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging the “blatant misuse” of central agencies against the members of the Opposition.
Citing Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and former TMC leaders Suvendu Adhikari and Mukul Roy as examples, the leaders claimed that the investigation agencies go slow on cases against Opposition politicians who joined the BJP.
In an interview with South First in 2022, Tamil Nadu MP Karti Chidambaram alleged that agencies like the ED are “not neutral, independent, or professional”.
“Today, particularly the Enforcement Directorate, is like the Gestapo or the SS of Nazi Germany, or one of these agencies of military juntas that is only used to harass political opponents. … There is a clear pattern to the raids conducted by these agencies,” Karti said in a blistering attack against the misuse of agencies by the Union government.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
