CM removal Bill hits a pause

Just days before the onset of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining a Bill on removal of the prime minister and chief ministers detained on serious charges decided to defer the adoption of a draft report when voting was underway on each of the five recommendations made by the panel.

AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and NCP (Sharad Pawar) MP Supriya Sule had submitted their dissent notes but withdrew them after the panel decided to defer the adoption of its report in the last minute. Members of the BJP also voted against some recommendations.

“The joint parliamentary committee unanimously said that we needed more consultations with stakeholders,” said panel chief Aparajita Sarangi (BJP). Members present in the meeting said voting on two of the recommendations was already done and discussions were underway on the third when the decision was taken to defer the adoption of the draft report. The JPC on the 130th Amendment Bill had made the five recommendations in its draft report, which was circulated to members recently. On Friday, when the committee was voting on each of the recommendations separately, it was decided that more consultations with stakeholders and discussions among members were required.

The panel had recommended that the prime minister, Union ministers and chief ministers be suspended from their posts if they are detained for 30 straight days on charges of serious offences — pending the outcome of legal proceedings. It also proposed an automatic reversal clause if such persons are acquitted or the prosecution does not proceed within a specified period. It had proposed that the term “serious criminal offences” as mentioned in the statement of objectives and reasons of the Bill may be defined as “...serious criminal offences which are punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years or more”.

Sarangi said the Government brought the Bill with the intent to stop corruption and to prevent criminalisation of politics.  “This is a national cause. There should be unanimity in thought and expression,” she said. Introduced last August by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Bill seeks to automatically remove the PM, ministers or CMs on the 31st day of their detention if they don’t step down on their own.  The opposition has dubbed the Bill a tool to destabilise Governments run by them. Subsequently, the draft laws were referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament. Most opposition parties have opted out of the JPC examining the Bill.