The 130th Constitution Amendment Bill, after its introduction in the Lok Sabha, was received with chaos and turmoil. Still, even after the protests by the opposition, the bill has now been sent to a joint committee. The bill aims to curtail corruption and reduce the number of politicians with a criminal background. In essence, it says that any minister who has been in jail for 30 days for a serious offence will lose their post in the parliament. Any minister guilty of an offence will be removed by the President as per the advice of the Prime Minister, according to the bill.
The bill relates to changes in Article 75, which pertains to the appointment of the Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister. The bill does have provisions for the re-appointment of the minister after his release from jail. The president, after consideration, can reappoint the minister. After its introduction, the bill received extreme backlash from the opposition. Congress MP K C Venugopal even brought up the 2010 arrest of the Home Minister, replying to which Amit Shah stated that he had resigned as the Home Minister of Gujarat before he was arrested in the Soharabuddin Shaikh encounter.
According to the statement of the bill, the reason behind its introduction is to uphold constitutional morality. It states that any minister who is charged with a serious offence acts as a hindrance to constitutional morality and the morality to represent the people of the country. It is being objected to as many leaders view this as the government’s effort to repress and selectively target the opposition. Previously also the Congress party, AAP, Samajwadi and other parties have stated that the central agencies like the CBI and ED are being used by the central government to target opposition leaders.
A problematic area of the bill is that the leaders will be removed just based on arrest and not conviction. It must also be taken into account that the provisions to disqualify Members of Parliament based on offences already exist in the form of the Representation of the People’s Act 1951 and other provisions of the Constitution. Asaduddin Owaisi, the AIMIM leader, said that he opposed the bill since it dilutes the constitutional principle of separation of powers and makes the executive a judge and adjudicator of the law, which is the work of the judiciary.
The bill is sent to the joint committee, which will scrutinise the clauses, and then its future course will be decided in the parliament.
