Overview

• Union minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi declined a cabinet suggestion to exempt the prime minister from new legislation on removing detained leaders.
• The Constitution (130th) Amendment and related UT and Jammu & Kashmir bills would require automatic removal of a prime minister, chief minister or minister after 30 consecutive days in custody on charges carrying at least a five-year sentence, with reappointment possible if released or acquitted.
• Introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah, the measures were advanced by voice vote during uproar in the Lok Sabha and have been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for scrutiny.
• The government frames the initiative as an ethics and anti-corruption step intended to prevent officials from running administrations from jail.
• Opposition parties call the plan draconian and vulnerable to misuse by central agencies, warn of federalism and due process concerns, and note that any constitutional change still needs a two-thirds majority in both Houses.