Shah tables 3 bills in LS, sent to JPC amid chaos

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday introduced in the Lok Sabha three contentious bills that bar any minister, chief minister or prime minister from holding the position after getting arrested, amid a storm of Opposition protests and sloganeering that even saw the draft legislation torn up and pieces of paper flung at the minister.

- Saubhadra Chatterji and Prawesh Lama

Tempers flared, copies of the bills were torn and members of the ruling and opposition coalitions came face-to-face and jostled in the Lower House, which eventually sent the three bills to a joint parliamentary committee, comprising 21 members of the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

Some Opposition members charged towards the Well of the House and even headed towards Shah who was introducing the bill around 2pm, forcing a brief adjournment and admonishment from speaker Om Birla.

When the House was reconvened at 3pm, 15 marshals were brought inside the House and the home minister introduced the bills from the fourth row, instead of the first, guarded by marshals.

"On one hand, PM Narendra Modi has introduced a constitutional amendment to bring himself into the ambit of law. On the other hand, under the leadership of Congress, the entire opposition has opposed it in order to remain above the law, run governments from jail, and cling to power," Shah posted on X.

The three bills - the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill and The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill - 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 consecutive days over an offence that carries a jail term of five years or more.