'Death knell for democracy': Opposition slams Centre's PM, CM removal bills

The bills propose that ministers who are arrested on charges carrying a prison term of five years or more and remain in custody for 30 consecutive days, will be removed from office on the 31st day

Opposition leaders on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Centre after Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three bills in the Lok Sabha that seek to provide a framework for the removal of the Prime Minister (PM), Union Ministers, Chief Ministers (CM), and Ministers in States and Union Territories facing serious criminal charges.

 

The bills are

• The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025
• The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025
• The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025

 

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi said the proposals could turn India into a “police state,” comparing the framework to Nazi Germany’s Gestapo. “This violates the principle of separation of powers and undermines the right of the power to elect a government…This government is hell-bent on creating a police state. This will be a death nail unleashed on elected government. Indian Constitution is being amended to turn this country into a police state,” he warned in the House. 

 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also hit out at the Centre, terming the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill “a step towards something that is more than a super-Emergency, a step to end the democratic era of India forever.”

 

" This draconian step comes as a death knell for democracy and federalism in India. What we are witnessing is unprecedented—the Bill is nothing short of a Hitlerian assault on the very soul of Indian democracy. The Bill seeks to strip the judiciary of its Constitutional role—to take away the power of Courts to adjudicate on matters that lie at the very heart of justice and federal balance. By vesting such powers in partisan hands, the Bill mutilates democracy," she said in a post on X.

 

Congress MP Manish Tewari also said, "the bill is against the jurisprudence of criminal justice and distorts Parliamentary democracy. The bill opens door for political misuse and throws all constitutional safeguards to the wind".

 

What do the bills propose?

 

The bills stipulate that leaders, including the PM and CMs, who are arrested on charges carrying a prison term of five years or more and remain in custody for 30 consecutive days, will be removed from office on the 31st day. The removal would be executed by the President in the case of the PM, by the CM for state ministers, by the Governor for CMs, and by the Lieutenant-Governor for CMs in Union Territories.

 

However, they can be re-appointed on release from custody.

 

In the statement of objects and reasons for the proposed amendments, Shah said that the character and conduct of ministers should be “beyond any ray of suspicion” and that allowing those facing serious charges to continue in office would “diminish the constitutional trust reposed by people in him.”