New Delhi, Aug 20: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday introduced three bills, including the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill,2025, in the Lok Sabha.
Later, all three bills were sent to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC).
In a series of posts on ‘X’, Shah said, considering the Modi government’s commitment against political corruption in the country and the public outrage, he introduced a Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament today with the consent of the Lok Sabha Speaker.
This bill ensures that individuals holding important constitutional positions, such as the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and Ministers of the Central and State Governments, cannot run the government while in jail. He further stated that the purpose of this bill is to elevate the declining standards of morality in public life and bring integrity to politics.
Amit Shah stated that the laws resulting from these three bills will ensure the following:
No person, while under arrest and in jail, can govern as Prime Minister, Chief Minister, or Minister of the Central or State Government.
When the Constitution was framed, its architects could not have imagined that in the future, there would be political figures who would refuse to resign on moral grounds before being arrested. In recent years, an astonishing situation has arisen in the country where Chief Ministers or Ministers have unethically run the government from jail without resigning.
This bill includes a provision that allows an accused politician to seek bail from the court within 30 days of arrest. If they fail to secure bail within 30 days, on the 31st day, either the Prime Minister at the Center or the Chief Ministers in the states will remove them from their positions; otherwise, they will automatically become legally disqualified from performing their duties. If such a leader is granted bail after the legal process, they may resume their position.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2025 seeks to amend section 54 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, to provide a legal framework for the removal of the Chief Minister or a Minister in case of arrest or detention in custody on account of serious criminal charges.
The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025 says there is no provision under the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 (20 of 1963) for the removal of the chief minister or a minister arrested and detained in custody on account of serious criminal charges. Hence, there is a need to amend section 45 of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, to provide a legal framework for the removal of a chief minister or a minister in such cases. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.
The objectives of the Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, say there is no provision under the Constitution for the removal of a minister who is arrested and detained in custody on account of serious criminal charges. Hence, there is a need to amend Articles 75, 164, and 239AA of the Constitution, for providing a legal framework for the removal of the prime minister or a minister in the Union Council of Ministers and the chief minister or a minister in the Council of Ministers of States and the National Capital Territory of Delhi in such cases. This bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.
The introduction of the three bills caused a massive uproar in the House. During the proceedings of the House, some of the opposition MPs tore the copies of the three contentious bills and threw them towards Shah, following which the House was adjourned till 3 pm.
The reference to the JPC, which was already on the government’s agenda, was made after Opposition MPs raised a huge uproar in the Lok Sabha as Union Home Minister Amit Shah sought to table the bills.
Amit Shah, while pitching these bills as an anti-corruption measure, moved a resolution to send these to a committee that will have 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, from both the government and the parties in opposition. The resolution was passed by a voice vote.