Not drafted with clean hands

Bad intent and vindictiveness are writ large on law to sack CMs and ministers

Alok Tiwari

One hallmark of a demagogue-led regime is that it continues to throw one bait after another at the opponents, each more outrageous than the last. Even before proper action is organized to oppose one act, another one is ready. The society at large is continuously thrown off-balance until a large section no longer cares. After a time, sheer fatigue ensures that the reaction is muted. The regime has endless resources and strong motivation to remain in the saddle. The opposition and civil society, by their very nature, are fragmented, lack resources and fora to amplify their views and eventually cave in. This is how a nation moves towards autocracy.

One such act is the latest Constitution (130^th Amendment) Bill presented by the government that will allow union cabinet to dismiss state chief ministers and other central and state ministers if they remain under arrest for 30 days for serious offences. Politically speaking, it looks like a diversionary tactic to take the heat off a wayward Election Commission. The EC fared poorly in Supreme Court on Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. Much against its very loudly expressed wish, it was asked to publish the names of 65 lakh deleted voters. It was also asked to accept a wider range of documents to enlist voters.

The government too was in a corner having publicly backed the poll body. So, out of nowhere comes the Bill to sack CMs and ministers. As of now the ruling party by itself does not have the numbers to get a constitution amendment passed. Since the bill affects centre-state relations it will likely need ratification by a majority of state assemblies to become a law, a long-drawn process at best.

The government seems to have anticipated it and hence has proposed sending the bill to a select committee of MPs for examination. Expectedly, the opposition is already roiled. Though bringing the bill may not have done enough to ease the pressure on EC, it has succeeded in diffusing the national focus. The headlines and op-eds are split on two issues. For the sake of some sanity in our politics, let us hope the government’s purpose in bringing the bill is just that—to create a diversion from EC behaviour. Because if the bill were to become a law it will further erode the already diminished federal structure of Indian polity besides giving draconian new powers in the hands of union government.

The government has sought to present the new bill as a step towards clean politics. Nothing can be farther from truth. There is a doctrine of ‘clean hands’ in law that says those seeking justice must themselves not have indulged in wrongful acts. It applies as much to lawmakers. Those who seek to impose moral behaviour on others should themselves not be guilty of immoral acts. Even a cursory look at the record of this government will be enough to show that the government comes with anything but clean hands.

The big issue in today’s politics is not the kind of corruption that government wants you to think about. It is the corruption that government itself has indulged in to not just defeat but also destroy opposition. Several laws it has enacted, including the infamous money laundering law and the new penal code, have abridged civil liberties of the citizens. None has expanded them. It has made arrest by the agencies easier and getting bail progressively difficult. This government has never been shy of using these provisions and the state agencies to brazenly settle political scores.

AAP leaders Satendar Jain and Manish Sisodia spent months in jail in a case that stands on thin ice. Central agencies arrested sitting chief ministers Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal right at the time when they were required to be campaigning. The agencies’ lawyers twisted legal theories out of shape before courts in trying to deny them bail, yet so flimsy were the charges that the accused still walked out. Government’s pet agency, the Enforcement Directorate, has repeatedly been castigated by top courts and warned against being allowed to be used politically but to no avail.

Not just that, BJP has admitted tainted leaders who magically had cases against them disappear once they joined the ranks. It has been charged with putting pressure on prosecutors to go easy on even terror accused it favoured. The party has reduced sentences of Hindu radicals convicted of rape and murder and publicly feted those accused of murdering Muslims. In case anyone has forgotten, it is the same party that brought the scheme of Electoral Bonds that allowed anonymous donations to political party and was later seen to be in the pay of companies that were tainted or received favours. Morality much?

So, it is a bit rich for home minister Amit Shah to say the bill is about public morality. His own record of putting his opponents away for prolonged periods speaks for the bad faith he brings to the table. Even a child will know how this new law, if enacted, will be used.

We do need new laws. But it is to check wantonness of the government. Laws are needed to check the blatant misuse of state agencies to neutralize or harass political opponents. Law is needed to ensure the institutions like EC and Judiciary remain independent and political executive does not control appointments on them. Law is needed to ensure that nobody can withdraw cases against themselves as some chief ministers have done. Law is needed to make sure governors do not thwart the will of elected state governments. Law is needed to protect the life and liberty of citizens. Law is needed to ensure those who deny the liberties are personally held liable. What we do not need is a law that will allow sacking of opposition chief ministers and ministers on trumped up charges.

This column was published in Lokmat Times on Aug 28, 2025