{"id":60167,"date":"2025-08-20T10:34:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T05:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=60167"},"modified":"2025-08-21T11:46:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T06:16:34","slug":"constitution-130th-amendment-bill-2025-removal-of-ministers-facing-serious-criminal-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/constitution-130th-amendment-bill-2025-removal-of-ministers-facing-serious-criminal-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 &#8211; Removal of Ministers Facing Serious Criminal Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to introduce the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill aims to address the gap in the Constitution regarding <\/span><b>removal of Ministers <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(PM, CMs, Union\/State Ministers) <\/span><b>facing serious criminal allegations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and detained for 30 consecutive days.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The move comes against the backdrop of the controversy that surrounded the arrest in <\/span><b>2023 of V Senthil Balaji,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a minister in Tamil Nadu\u2019s DMK government.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Key Provisions of the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Constitutional amendments:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill will amend <\/span><b>Articles 75, 164 and 239AA<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Article 75 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the Constitution primarily deals with the appointment and responsibilities of the Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Article 164 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the Constitution<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">outlines the provisions related to the CoMs in a state.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Article 239AA <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the Constitution outlines special provisions for the NCT of Delhi.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Removal clause: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a Minister (PM\/CM\/Minister) is arrested and detained for 30 consecutive days on charges punishable with five years or more imprisonment, then:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President (on advice of PM\/directly) removes Union Ministers\/PM.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Governor (on CM\u2019s advice) removes State Ministers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Governor (directly) removes Chief Minister of State.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UT-specific amendments cover CMs\/Ministers in UTs and J&amp;K.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Reappointment:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Ministers can be reappointed upon release.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Justification and Rationale Behind the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Good governance and constitutional morality<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Ministers facing criminal charges undermine public trust and principles of responsible government.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Character beyond suspicion<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Elected representatives must rise above political interests to uphold the welfare of people.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Constitutional gap:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> No explicit removal provision existed earlier; courts interpreted \u201cpleasure of Governor\/President\u201d but bound by aid and advice doctrine.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Political and Legal Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Case reference:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arrest of V. Senthil Balaji (DMK Minister, 2023) sparked controversy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Governor R.N. Ravi dismissed him \u2192 CM M.K. Stalin reinstated after bail \u2192 later reshuffle removed Balaji after SC\u2019s concerns.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Judicial doctrine<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Governors\u2019 powers under Article 164 are not absolute, subject to aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Related Legislative Measures<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 For union and states.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 Amends the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 and covers UTs like Puducherry and Delhi.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>J&amp;K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 Amends section 54 in the 2019 reorganisation act (the act turned J&amp;K from a state to a UT).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All bills are likely to be referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Procedural Issues in Parliament<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Rule 19A and 19B of Lok Sabha Rules<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Require prior notice and circulation of bills to MPs before introduction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Government request: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sought leniency in procedural rules due to time constraints (Monsoon Session ending August 21, 2025).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Constitutional and Administrative Implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Strengthens executive accountability:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Explicit mechanism for removal of tainted Ministers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Centre\u2013State\u2013UT differentiation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Separate but aligned amendments to maintain federal balance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Checks criminalisation of politics<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Legislative attempt to safeguard public trust in governance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Risk of political misuse:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analysts criticized the Bill as a <\/span><b>tool to destabilize opposition-ruled states.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Warning of misuse by central agencies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to arrest opposition leaders, while ruling party leaders remain untouched.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There have been recent cases when incumbent CMs \u2014 such as Arvind Kejriwal in <\/span><b>Delhi <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and Hemant Soren in <\/span><b>Jharkhand <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 spent several weeks in jail on corruption allegations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>May cause logjam in the session of Parliament: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government&#8217;s likely move comes when the Opposition has been making headlines with \u201c<\/span><b>vote theft<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d allegations, and holding protests against the <\/span><b>SIR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the electoral rolls in Bihar.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the coming years, if the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 is enacted, India may witness <\/span><b>a paradigm shift towards greater constitutional accountability and ethical governance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will ensure that public offices remain free from the shadow of serious criminal allegations.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the true test of these reforms will lie in s<\/span><b>afeguarding them from political misuse<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, thereby <\/span><b>balancing <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the ideals of <\/span><b>constitutional morality with the principles of natural justice.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/amit-shah-to-move-3-bills-for-removal-of-pm-cms-ministers-held-on-serious-criminal-charges\/article69953333.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>TH<\/b><\/a><b>\u00a0| <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/political-pulse\/govt-parliament-constitutional-amendment-bill-ministers-detained-serious-charges-10199776\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>IE<\/b><\/a> |<b>\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/key-bills-on-norms-for-removal-of-pm-cms-ministers-to-be-tabled-in-lok-sabha-on-august-20-jammu-kashmir-reorganisation-101755624237487.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>HT<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 seeks to address the gap in the Constitution regarding removal of Ministers (PM, CMs, Union\/State Ministers) facing serious criminal allegations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":60310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2283,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-60167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-constitution-130th-amendment-bill","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}