A Toppling Tool?

A Correspondent

A Bill tabled by Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament on Wednesday, 20 August, proposed to give the Centre the power to remove any Chief Minister, State Cabinet Minister, or Union Minister who is facing criminal charges punishable by five years or more of imprisonment, and who has been under arrest for 30 days.

The Centre seeks these powers by introducing the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to amend Article 75 of the Constitution, which governs the appointment and responsibilities of ministers, Article 164 that outlines the provisions related to the appointment of state ministers, and Article 239AA which outlines the functioning of ministers of UT of Delhi.

Simply put, if a minister spends 30 days behind bars in a case in which the charges carry a punishment of at least five years, they will lose their office if the Bill becomes law.

Following uproar in the Lok Sabha, the Bill has been recommended for referral to a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeks to alter three key articles. These are Article 75 (Union Ministers), Article 164 (State Ministers), and Article 239AA (Delhi Ministers), granting new removal powers.

Opposition parties unitedly slammed the Bill as ‘dictatorial’ and ‘unconstitutional’. When questioned by Congress’ KC Venugopal about his own past arrest, Amit Shah responded in Parliament. He clarified that he had resigned from his post as Gujarat’s Home Minister before being arrested and held no office while in custody.

“A Minister, who, for any period of thirty consecutive days while holding office as such, is arrested and detained in custody on the allegation of committing an offence under any law for the time being in force, which is punishable with imprisonment for a term that may extend to five years or more, shall be removed from office by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, to be tendered by the thirty-first day after being taken into such custody”.

It further stated that if the Prime Minister does not tender the proposal to remove the accused Minister on the thirty-first day, “he shall cease to be a Minister with effect from the day immediately thereafter.”

The Bill also applies to the Prime Minister of India in the event of their arrest.

The Bill proposes to add a new clause to Article 164 of the Constitution, under which Governors would be given similar powers to remove a Chief Minister or Cabinet Minister of their respective states if they have been in jail for 30 days. In truth governors are tools in the hands of the Centre. At a time when people are demanding the very abolition of obnoxious institution of governor, the BharatiyaJanata party is trying to arming it with extra-ordinary powers.

The Bill is anything but dictatorial and unconstitutional. It is specially designed to cripple whatever remains of federalism while allowing the Centre to centralise powers further. And opposition-ruled states will always be in danger of losing office if they refuse to fall in line.

In today’s pernicious political climate where individuals can be easily charged, arrested and detained for extended periods, this legislation is going to be weaponised to target political opponents. In reality it is an attack on opposition, not corruption.

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Frontier
Vol 58, No. 12, Sep 14 - 20, 2025