- The Centre plans a law to remove jailed Chief Ministers and ministers after one month of serious charges
- Arvind Kejriwal did not resign after his 2023 arrest, prompting the proposed legislation
- Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji continued as minister post-arrest, later resigned after court orders
The Centre decided to bring a law to remove Chief Ministers and ministers jailed for more than a month after being charged with serious offences after former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not resign after he was arrested in a corruption case last year, top government sources have said.
Mr Kejriwal was arrested in June last year in a corruption case linked to alleged irregularities in Delhi's now-scrapped liquor policy. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made it clear that he would retain the top post, and his colleagues in the cabinet ran the government on his behalf. Only after he was granted bail in September did he step down and said he would return to the post after the verdict of the "people's court", meaning the Assembly election.
Following his resignation, AAP leader and minister Atishi took over as Chief Minister. She remained in the top post till the Delhi election in February this year, which AAP lost to the BJP.
Sources in the government have said that they wanted to bring the law soon after Mr Kejriwal refused to resign following his arrest. But introducing the law at that point would have been projected by the Opposition as a 'vendetta politics' move. The government, therefore, chose to wait. Eventually, Mr Kejriwal's party was voted out in the Delhi election.
Senthil Balaji Factor
Another case that prompted the government to bring the law, which has drawn strong resistance from the Opposition, is the case of Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji. The DMK minister was arrested in a corruption case in 2023. Following his arrest, Mr Balaji continued as a minister without portfolio. The Madras High Court flagged this, saying a minister without a portfolio is a "constitutional travesty". He later resigned. The DMK leader was granted bail in 2024 and became minister again. In April this year, the Supreme Court heard a petition flagging the possibility of the minister intimidating witnesses and asked Mr Balaji to resign or risk bail cancellation. Eventually, he stepped down again.
Sources said the government believes that this "joke needs to end". "The framers of the Constitution would have hardly thought that arrested ministers of Chief Ministers would want to run the government from jail," a source said.
A Question To Rahul Gandhi
Sources in the government have pointed to how Rahul Gandhi, now Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, opposed the UPA government's 2013 move to bypass a Supreme Court ruling that said MPs and MLAs convicted in a case carrying a jail term of two years will be disqualified from Parliament.
The Congress had eventually scrapped the controversial ordinance. Ironically, this ordinance could have shielded Mr Gandhi when he was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP following his conviction in a criminal defamation case in 2023.
Citing the Congress leader's 2013 stand, a source in the government said, "If he was against corruption in politics then, why is his party opposing the Constitution Amendment Bill that penalises criminality in politics?"
A Perception Battle
The government does not have the required numbers to ensure the Bill's passage in Parliament as legislation to amend the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in each House, which the NDA does not have. Why then did the government bring the Bill? Sources say the objective is to put the spotlight on corruption in politics and wage a perception battle against the Opposition.
The Opposition has been trying to corner the government over the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar and Congress's allegations of 'vote theft'. Against this backdrop, the Opposition's protest against this legislation would be projected by the government as a reluctance to scuttle an anti-corruption move and block a shift towards cleaner politics.
Sources in the government have also countered the Opposition's allegations that this law may be used to frame non-BJP Chief Ministers by using central agencies. "An arrest is made after a process. At any point, the person can approach the court and seek relief," a source said.
