Jailed leaders can't hold office: Modi defends Bill to remove PM, CMs; ADR says 40% of CMs face criminal cases

KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the opposition INDIA bloc, including the TMC, of shielding corruption and resisting legislative moves aimed at ensuring probity in public life. Addressing a rally here, Modi made indirect references to the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, introduced in Parliament earlier this week, which seeks to bar prime ministers, chief ministers, and ministers from holding office if they remain in jail for 30 days or more. Citing the provisions of the proposed law, the PM said, We decided to bring in a law that provides for dismissing a corrupt chief minister, or even the prime minister, if he or she spends 30 days in jail. But when we brought in a stringent law, the TMC, the Congress started protesting. They are angry because they are scared of facing punishment for their own sins. In an apparent dig at former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Modi said, It is a shame that even a chief minister, after going to jail, has been running government from there. Targeting the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal, the PM said, Two TMC ministers, even after going to jail on corruption charges, were not willing to give up their posts. He was referring to former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in connection with the teachers recruitment scam, and Jyoti Priya Mallick, arrested in the ration distribution scam. Those who are arrested on corruption charges, how can they be part of the government and remain in their posts? Modi will not allow this, the PM thundered. Defending his governments move, Modi said the new Bill was necessary to plug glaring loopholes in the system. Look at the situation, nowadays some people have stooped so low that they are trying to run the government from jail, Modi added. Highlighting his governments records, the Prime Minister said, For the past 11 years, the country has been waging a determined battle against corruption. In this regard, we have taken a significant step forward by introducing an anti-corruption Bill in the Lok Sabha. Under existing laws, if a government employee is caught and incarcerated without securing bail within 50 hours, they are automatically suspended from their position. However, no such provisions exist for a chief minister, a prime minister, or a minister. This loophole has allowed some leaders to stoop so low that they attempt to govern from behind bars. Of the 30 chief ministers in the country, 12 of them, or 40 percent, declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a new report by poll rights body ADR. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy has declared 89 cases against him, the highest, followed by Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, who declared 47. Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu declared 19, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah declared 13, and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren declared five cases. Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Sukhvinder Singh declared four cases each, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan declared two, and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann declared one case. According to the report by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 10, or 33 per cent, of the chief ministers have declared serious criminal cases, including cases related to attempt to murder, kidnapping, bribery, and criminal intimidation against them. The ADR said it analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 30 sitting chief ministers in state Assemblies and Union Territories. This data is from affidavits they filed prior to contesting their last elections.