Government uses anti-graft bills to turn up heat on Opposition

Ahead of the crucial Bihar elections, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has sought to make corruption in high constitutional offices a poll plank by introducing three bills that bar the prime minister, chief ministers and other ministers from remaining in office if they are taken into custody for serious offences.

"Now the people of the country need to decide: Is it right for a minister, chief minister, or prime minister to run a government from jail?" Home Minister Amit Shah posted on X after the introduction of the bill.

The BJP and its ally JD(U) are pitched against Lalu Yadav's RJD-led I.N.D.I.A bloc in Bihar that goes to the polls in October. Lalu and his family are currently embroiled in several corruption cases.

The sharp political divide on the issue could provide the NDA and its allies a poll position to counter the combative RJD-Congress combine that has sought to corner the government and the Election Commission on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Senior government sources said that while the ruling party or the NDA lacks a two-thirds majority in either House — a prerequisite for the passage of bills — the government aims to show that the Opposition stands opposed to a move intended to weed out corruption.

“We are not asking for support for the bills, but let them tell people that they endorse a system where a government can be run by a chief minister or prime minister even from behind bars,” a senior minister said.

To this end, Shah, who introduced the legislation amid ruckus in the Lok Sabha, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought in the bill 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. The nation also remembers the time when, in this very august House, then PM Indira Gandhi, through Constitutional Amendment No. 39, granted special privilege to the prime minister, ensuring that no legal action could be taken against her,” the home minister posted on X.

The Kejriwal case

Sources said the government first considered the bill after the Delhi High Court ruled in March last year that there was “no legal bar in running the government from jail", following the incarceration of then CM Arvind Kejriwal in a graft case.

Government sources also said that they felt the need for the bill since the Constitution does not have any provision.

As the bill was introduced, Shah came under attack from the Congress, which pointed out that he himself had once been arrested.

“I resigned even before being arrested. I did not hold any constitutional position, even after being released on bail, until the court fully acquitted me,” Amit Shah responded.

Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said that the Opposition created a ruckus when the bill was introduced and that the way the copy of the bill was torn and thrown at Shah's face was condemnable.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari questioned how a person with serious criminal cases registered against them could continue to hold public office. "The public will teach a lesson to those who want people involved in serious criminal cases to stay in power," he said.