Addressing the concerns and objections over the contentious 130th Amendment Bill, which proposes sacking of jailed ministers, home minister Amit Shah said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself who had insisted on bringing the office of the PM under the aegis of this bill.
Amit Shah last week introduced in the Lok Sabha three bills that propose that a sitting minister, chief minister or even the prime minister can lose their position within a month if they are arrested or detained for 30 days straight over an offence that carries a jail term of five years or more.
In an interview with ANI news agency on Monday, Amit Shah said, "I want to ask the entire nation and the Opposition... Can a chief minister, Prime Minister, or any leader run the country from jail? Does that suit the dignity of our democracy?"
"The Prime Minister himself has included the post of PM in this... Earlier, Indira Gandhi had brought 39th amendment (of protecting the President, VP, PM, and Speaker from judicial review by Indian courts) ... Narendra Modi ji has brought a constitutional amendment against himself that if the Prime Minister goes to jail, he will have to resign... said Amit Shah.
{{/usCountry}}"The Prime Minister himself has included the post of PM in this... Earlier, Indira Gandhi had brought 39th amendment (of protecting the President, VP, PM, and Speaker from judicial review by Indian courts) ... Narendra Modi ji has brought a constitutional amendment against himself that if the Prime Minister goes to jail, he will have to resign... said Amit Shah.
{{/usCountry}}"Even today, they are trying that if they ever have to go to jail, they will easily form the government from jail. The jail will be made CM House, PM House and the DGP, Chief Secretary, Cabinet Secretary or Home Secretary will take orders from the jail. My party and I completely reject the idea that this country cannot be governed without the person who is sitting there. This will not affect anyone's majority in the Parliament or the Assembly. One member will go, other members of the party will run the government, and when they get bail, they can come and take the oath again. What is the objection in this?" Shah was quoted as saying in the interview.
He added, “I want to tell the entire country about the 130th Amendment. In this amendment, we have made a provision that if the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, or any leader from the central or state government faces serious allegations and gets arrested, and if they do not get bail within 30 days, then they must leave their position. If they don't resign, they will be removed from their post by law. This is what we have included in the 130th Amendment.”