Centre to table bill for removal of PM, CMs arrested on serious criminal charges
The Centre will table a bill to ensure the removal of elected representatives arrested or detained on serious criminal charges from office on Wednesday, media reports said.
The proposed law will cover the Prime Minister, Union ministers, Chief Ministers, and ministers of Union Territories.
Besides this, two other bills- the 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- could be moved to a parliamentary committee.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move the motion in the Lok Sabha.
At present, the Constitution states that only public representatives who have been convicted can be removed from office.
The key bills, therefore, are constitutional amendment bills - the articles involved are Articles 75, 164 and 239AA.
However, the proposed law states that a Prime Minister, any Union minister, Chief Ministers, and ministers of states and Union Territories, who are arrested and kept in custody for 30 consecutive days, will have to resign by Day 31 or be automatically removed.
While no description of the kind of criminal charges contemplated has been provided, the alleged offence has to be punishable with at least a five-year jail term.
This would cover serious crimes like murder and even large-scale corruption.
The Opposition parties are yet to respond to the matter, but they have called a meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the issue.
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