Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejected an idea that would have given him an exemption from a new bill that would require the removal of the Prime Minister, chief ministers, and ministers if they remain in custody for 30 days in a serious criminal matter.
Rijiju said that during a cabinet meeting, some colleagues proposed to make an exception for the Prime Minister which Modi, as Rijiju said, "immediately rejected."
"PM Modi told the cabinet that the recommendation is to keep the prime minister out of this bill, but he disagreed. PM Modi refused to give an exception to the prime minister. The PM is also a citizen, and he should not have special protection. Most of the Chief Ministers are from our party. If our people make mistakes, they will have to quit their posts. Ethics should also mean something. The Opposition would have welcomed this bill had they kept ethics at the centre," Mr Rijiju said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
The statement comes amidst the Centre bringing three important bills earlier this week — the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
Combined, these bills provide that if the Prime Minister, a Union minister, or a chief minister of a state is arrested and taken into custody for 30 days or more on an offence punishable with five years of imprisonment or more, the concerned person shall forthwith stand disqualified from office from the 31st day onwards.
On Thursday, Rajya Sabha approved a motion for referring the three bills to a Joint Parliamentary Committee. The motion, moved by Home Minister Amit Shah, elicited raucous protests in the Upper House. This came after the same scenes in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, when Shah had moved the legislation amidst fierce opposition furor.
Lok Sabha approval cleared the appointment of a 31-member Joint Committee to study the bills, comprising 21 members of the lower House and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The committee has been told to submit its report in the Winter Session, the third week of November. The Upper House also approved the names of the 10 members of the Upper House on Thursday.
