In a walk towards eradicating political corruption from Indian politics, the government of India has proposed ‘The Constitutional (130th Amendment) Bill 2025 to “elevate the declining standards of morality in public life and bring integrity into politics.” (Stated on the official website- pib.gov.in) The Bill proposes to remove the Prime Minister, Chief Minister or any other state ministers from their position of power after being detained for any crime under 30 days. The Bill has now has become a topic for the people of India to talk about as it has led the critics and opposition fear that the government might launch personal vendetta against such politically corrupt leaders.
What is the Bill all about?
As announced by Union Home Minister of India, Shri Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha, the Constitutional (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, aims to ensure:
- That any political leader who will get arrested and put behind the bars, he may then not be allowed to govern the country as Prime Minister, Chief Minister or the Minister of Central or State government.
- While the constitution was earlier framed, the leaders didn’t know that the future political figures might misuse their power and the run the nation unethically, thus this new Amendment Bill aims to change the narrative and take away the power from the undeserved ones.
- The Bill gives a provision to the accused leader to gain bail under 30 days of his/her arrest, if they fail to do so, on the 31st day, their position of power will be taken away from them legally. However, if they secure a bail from the court, they may continue to hold their power.
The Bill aims to amend the Article 75, 164 and 239AA of the Indian constitution and as per the new amendment,
- The Union Minister will be removed by the President (on the advice of Prime Minister).
- The State Ministers will be removed by the Governor (on the advice of Chief Minister).
- The Chief Minister will directly remove the Governor.
As proposed by Shri Amit Shah, this Bill will be also applied to the Union Territories of India and also Jammu and Kashmir.
Why is the Bill necessary?
The Bill aims to ensure that every political entity of India, be it the Prime Minister, President or any other state or central government minister, must comply by the law and rule in an ethical and moral way. Further, this Bill upholds the idea of democratic surety and moral compliance of political leaders thereby also underscoring how a minister who would be facing serious criminal charges may violate the constitutional morality and disrespect the law of India. This Bill presents the government’s take on the increasing political corruption and moral abruptcy, this bill therefore, brings in accountability for the political figure to live up to his actions and fear real consequences.
What does the opposition say?
The opposition parties and critics have highly reprimanded the Bill and do not agree with the acceptance of the Bill. As stated by Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, “The crude behavior with which the opposition alliance opposed this bill to protect corrupt individuals has completely exposed the opposition.” The opposition parties are now under the fear that the Bill might by utilized by the government to investigate the cases of such corrupt political leaders and the government may then target them.
The Path Ahead
The Bill will now be passed on to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for a detailed assessment. The government will take into account the views of the opposition parties and with the two-thirds majority of votes, the Bill will become a law. The Bill further aims for the amendment of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and J&K Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 therefore becomes an important and much needed Bill to keep a check on the democratic principles of the Indian political leaders.
Conclusion
The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 marks as a significant shift of India towards aiming to ensure that no politically or morally ambiguous person leads the nation. However, the implementation of the Bill raises valid concerns about possible abuse and due process violations, even though the goal is preventing the criminalization of politics and ensuring that those facing serious charges do not govern from jail is admirable.
As the opposition continues to oppose the bill and take it as a targeted vendetta against them, it will now become important to see how the lawmakers of India will uphold the ethical, just and moral governance in India without snatching the rights of the political leaders.
