Parliament panel proposes suspension, not removal, of jailed ministers

New Delhi: A parliamentary panel examining the politically contentious Bill to remove Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers and ministers after prolonged judicial custody has recommended a sunset clause to ensure those eventually found innocent are not permanently deprived of office, while narrowing the Bill's scope by defining serious criminal offences.

In a significant departure from the original draft, the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill has recommended replacing every reference to "removal" or "cease to be a minister" with "suspension", making the disability temporary and reversible rather than permanent. It has also proposed that if the prescribed action is not taken within the stipulated period, the concerned minister should be deemed suspended instead of automatically vacating office.

The committee has proposed incorporating an automatic reversal clause under which the suspension would lapse if the minister is discharged, acquitted or the prosecution fails to proceed within a defined period. The safeguard would make a suspended minister eligible for reappointment after being cleared by the courts, ensuring that a person ultimately found innocent does not permanently lose office merely because of an arrest.

To limit the law's sweep, the panel has recommended defining serious criminal offences and incorporating a separate schedule of qualifying offences to remove ambiguity over the legislation's application. It has also favoured setting up fast-track or special courts to try cases involving high constitutional functionaries.

The committee concluded that while the Bill's objective of promoting constitutional morality and curbing the criminalisation of politics deserved support, the original framework required stronger procedural safeguards. It noted that attaching constitutional consequences to prolonged detention rather than conviction could undermine the presumption of innocence and leave room for political misuse through strategic arrests. The proposed changes, it said, seek to balance clean governance with due process and constitutional protections.

More than a dozen leading law universities and legal institutions backed the Bill's objective of decriminalising politics but opposed automatic removal after 30 days' custody.