Bills to Sack PM, CMs, Ministers Deferred as JPC Says Report Will Not Be Submitted in Monsoon Session

New Delhi: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the three Bills on the removal of the prime minister, chief minister and ministers arrested under serious criminal charges for 30 days, will not be submitting its report in the upcoming monsoon session. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Aparajita Sarangi who heads the panel, that does not include majority of the opposition, said on Friday (July 17) that it had been unanimously decided that more deliberations are needed, and the draft report will be kept pending, without providing a date for when it will be submitted.

The move to defer the proposed legislations being brought to the House comes after the committee had suggested five changes including that the Bill’s provision of a minister’s “removal” or being made to “cease to be a minister” be replaced with “suspension,” after several stakeholders pointed out that such phrasing carried “an unwarranted air of finality and stigma.” Sarangi’s statement comes a day after the government’s tentative list of business for the monsoon session omitted the bill, including the adoption of the JPC report.

'Decided to keep the draft report pending'

“There were five recommendations that had been placed before all of us. But when we started talking about the recommendations, the entire committee unanimously felt we needed more deliberations, consultations with more stakeholders. So it was unanimously decided to keep the draft report pending, have more people and thoughts on board,” said Sarangi today (July 17) following a meeting of the JPC.

“We will be deliberating more on it. There will be more consultations. The government brought this bill with a wonderful intent to stop corruption, prevent criminalisation in politics. All of us must come together and do something in the interest of the people. We will be carrying it forward.”

The three bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha in August last year by union home minister Amit Shah amid opposition protests. The three bills – the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, were opposed at the introduction stage by the opposition and were then sent to a JPC.

Tours to three states, all BJP-ruled

Sarangi said that since December the committee conducted 12 meetings and met two chief ministers – both from BJP-ruled states – and visited three states – also ruled by the BJP.

“There have been 12 meetings, including the meeting held today. We met about 43 organisations, including discussions with the two Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and the NCT of Delhi,” she said.

“We also went on tours to three states. Of course, the Secretariat of Delhi, the state of Maharashtra and the state of Odisha, about 11 state governments have been brought on board. We also held discussions with about 30 organisations and legal experts. We discussed threadbare all the provisions of the Bill.”

Opposition parties

The opposition members of the INDIA bloc had decided to boycott the JPC and had communicated the decision to Union minister for parliamentary affairs Kiren Rijiju.

Notably, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule is the only INDIA bloc MP in the JPC. Other opposition MPs who are part of the JPC include All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)’s Asaduddin Owaisi, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP)’s S. Niranjan Reddy.

Sarangi said that the panel had written to 27 political parties and sought their suggestions.

“We also wrote to about 21 states and Union Territories that had not come here in person, and sought their suggestions. At the same time, we reached out to about 27 political parties. Some of them had decided not to come before the committee and declined to be part of the process. But we sought suggestions from all of them and wrote two letters to them. In the end, about five of them responded and gave their suggestions in writing. Today we had lots of deliberations. The Ministry of Home Affairs, which is the nodal ministry, and the Ministry of Law and Justice came together, and we had very good discussions,” she said.

The constitutional amendment Bill, if passed, will give additional powers to the Union government to remove a chief minister or anyone in their cabinet if they are detained in jail for 30 days, even if not convicted. Opposition members in the Lok Sabha had in August opposed the legislation and said that the Bills make way for a “police state,” violate due process, open doors for political misuse and target opposition-ruled states. 

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.