Panel will meet Opposition governments to review jailed CMs bill amid lapses row

BJP-lawmaker Aparajita Sarangi-led articulate citizens committee on bills to transfer jailed CMs and ministers testament receive three Opposition-ruled governments in West Bengal, Telangana and Karnataka to review the bill even as Opposition lawmakers flagged major lapses in the legislation at the panel’s meeting here on Wednesday.“We have decided to hear the views of non-NDA ruled states. In the next step, we will meet the governments of West Bengal, Telangana and Karnataka. We will meet more state governments but some of them are set to face elections in coming days,” Sarangi told the media. The proposed meetings will mark the panel’s first attempt to reach out to the Opposition, which has largely boycotted the panel, objecting to the content of the bill.The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025 also applies to Union Territory (UT) of Delhi and UTs of Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir. The Bill seeks to provide for removal of the Prime Minister, a Chief Minister of a State, or any other Minister in the Central or a State Government, if he or she is arrested and detained in custody on account of serious criminal offences that draw five years of jail or more. Current laws allows removal of public representatives only if they are convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more.In the meeting, Opposition leaders including AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, and NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule flagged “fundamental flaws” in the bill. According to functionaries, Owaisi argued that arrested ministers can lose their post but arrested lawmakers can retain their status. He also argued that the bill can be misused as rival state governments can arrest any lawmaker from another state.Owaisi and Sule argued that the bill violates federalism and Article 14 of the Constitution. The Article talks of Equality before law and says, “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.”The Opposition MPs pointed out that if a minister is arrested under Prevention of Money Laundering Act or the UAPA act, it would be very difficult to secure bail in one month. Section 43D(5) of the UAPA says that “no person… be released on bail or on his own bond unless the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity of being heard on the application for such release” and “Provided that such accused person shall not be released on bail or on his own bond if the Court, on a perusal of the case diary or the report made.. Is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against such person is prima facie true.”Madhya Pradesh chief secretary Anurag Jain, who appeared before the panel, wholeheartedly supported the bill.