‘Standards of morality cannot be linked with victory and defeat in elections’: Amit Shah on Rahul’s opposition to Bill to remove jailed ministers

“If an elected government is bringing a Bill or a constitutional amendment and putting it before the House, what opposition can there be to that? That too when I had made it clear that it would be handed over to a joint committee of both Houses,” Shah said.

“You can express your views there. And when it is put to a vote, you can vote. But in a democracy, is it good to stop a Bill from even being presented in the Lok Sabha? Is the Parliament for discussion or ruckus? We have also opposed on issues, but to not let a Bill be presented, I believe, is undemocratic. The Opposition will have to answer the people of the country.”

‘Bill applies equally to ruling and opposition leaders’

Responding to apprehensions that the Bill could be misused to target Opposition leaders, Shah stressed that it would apply equally to those in power.

“Today, NDA has most chief ministers in the country. Even the PM is from the NDA. The Bill does not just raise questions on Opposition CMs, but also ours,” he said. “They say FIRs are not registered against our leaders. Everybody knows there is something called a PIL. If there is an allegation against a leader, go to the court. The court will order an FIR. If it is a serious matter, the court will even monitor investigations. It’s not a question of ruling party or Opposition.”

Shah emphasised that the provision allowing ministers to be removed only after 30 days of custody provides a safeguard against frivolous cases.

“If the case is bogus, the High Courts and the Supreme Court are not sitting with their eyes shut. The courts have a right to grant bail. If it is not granted, you will have to leave the post. I want to ask, can a CM or PM run the government from jail? Does it befit a democracy? And if they are granted bail after 30 days, they can take oath again,” he said.

What constitutes ‘serious offences’

The Bill, Shah clarified, applies only to offences punishable by five years or more, such as corruption and other serious crimes.

“It does not concern small charges. Even today, there is a law that if you are sentenced to more than two years of jail, you will lose your legislative membership,” he said.

“Though the case is still open for appeal in the High Court and the Supreme Court, this has been there since Independence. As and when they are acquitted, their membership is revived.”

“New trend of not resigning after jail”

The Home Minister argued that the legislation has become necessary due to what he called a “new trend” of ministers refusing to resign even after being sent to jail.

“Since Independence, many leaders have gone to jail, and all resigned before going to jail. A new trend has emerged now that even after going to jail, you won’t resign,” Shah said. “Tamil Nadu ministers did not resign, Delhi’s ministers and the Chief Minister did not resign. Will DGPs and chief secretaries go to jail to take orders? Will this grant our democracy any respect in the world?”

Taking aim at Congress, Rahul Gandhi

Shah also accused the Congress of hypocrisy, invoking the example of the 2013 ordinance brought by the Manmohan Singh government to protect convicted MPs.

“Congress is opposing this today. When they were in power and Manmohan Singh was the PM, Lalu Yadav was their minister. Lalu was sentenced in the fodder scam. The Manmohan Singh government brought an ordinance that, pending appeal, even a sentencing of two years or more will not deprive an MP of membership,” Shah said.

“The same Rahul Gandhi had publicly torn the ordinance in a press conference. He mocked a decision taken by his party’s cabinet and PM on moral grounds, making Manmohan Singh cut a sorry figure. Now, the same Rahul Gandhi, in order to form a government in Bihar, is hugging a convicted Lalu Yadav. Is this not a double standard? If it was morality then, what is it now? Because you have lost three consecutive elections? The standards of morality cannot be linked with victory and defeat in elections. They should stay put like the sun and the moon.”

‘Bill will strengthen political morality’

Shah said the proposed amendment is rooted in the belief that political morality cannot be allowed to “slide down.”

“People have earlier resigned on moral grounds — Advani ji, Yeddyurappa ji, Eeshwarappa ji, George Fernandes, even Hemant Soren recently,” Shah said. “Probably, when the Constitution was framed, the framers did not imagine such shamelessness and thus did not include such a provision. But now that such things are happening, we cannot let political morality slide down. This Bill will strengthen the moral basis of our values.”

On concerns of judicial pressure

Asked about Opposition claims that the government could pressure courts to deny bail within 30 days, Shah dismissed the charge as “political propaganda.”

“This is merely a beautifully constructed argument by them to remain stuck to the chair,” he said. “I believe our courts are sensitive and will decide matters well within time.”

Opposition’s boycott of JPC, ruckus in Parliament

Shah criticised the Opposition for refusing to join the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Bill and for creating disruptions in Parliament.

“What can we do? If you are not going to accept the rules that govern the Parliament and you are going to argue that what we want should just happen even though we are in the Opposition, things cannot run like that,” he said.

Recalling the heckling he faced while presenting the Bill, Shah said, “How the Parliament will run cannot be decided by the Treasury alone. For any Bill, if the Opposition does not create a healthy atmosphere for discussion, then the people of the country are watching.”

He expressed confidence, however, that the Bill would secure the two-thirds majority required for passage: “I am confident that this Bill will be passed by Parliament. There will be many within the Congress and the Opposition who will support the Bill to uphold morality in politics.”

Other key remarks

On CISF deployment in Parliament, Shah said, “All forces inside Lok Sabha are under the Speaker. Marshals enter the House only when the Speaker asks them to. After the incident where some Leftists sprayed colour inside Parliament, a committee decided that the CAPF should secure Parliament. Earlier, Delhi Police used to do this. Even the Delhi Police is under me.”

On Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation, Shah said, “Dhankhar sahab’s resignation letter is clear that he has resigned on health grounds.”

He also denied that the NDA’s Vice President pick was with an eye on Tamil Nadu. “It is not so. The VP candidate coming from the south was natural as the President is from the east and the PM from the west and north. Radhakrishnan ji has had a long political career, has been a two-time MP, a state unit president, and a governor in four states. He has a clean image and is a mature politician,” he said.

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