BJP has brought Constitutional Amendment Bill to scare NDA allies: Manish Tewari

New Delhi [India], August 31 (ANI): Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari has said that the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which seeks to remove Ministers both at the Centre and the state if they are arrested and detained for 30 days, has been brought by the BJP to scare its NDA allies.
While not directly naming the Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Congress leader suggested that the BJP might not be able to secure two-thirds of the votes required in both houses of the Parliament to pass a constitutional amendment.
"First of all, a Constitutional amendment needs a two-thirds majority in both houses. Will the allies in the government, the coalition partners who are providing support, also support this? Because this law is not for the Opposition but rather to scare them (NDA allies)," Tewari told ANI in an exclusive interview.
The recently proposed bills, including the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, the Union Territories Amendment Bill, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, provide a legal framework for removing the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and ministers from their posts if they are detained for 30 days on serious criminal charges.
The bill has been referred to a Joint Committee of both Houses. To pass a Constitutional amendment, the government needs a two-thirds majority, or 364 votes out of a total of 543.
Saying that the bills are "completely destructive" of the basic structure of the Constitution and demolishes Article 21, Tewari said, "the basic structure doctrine holds that rule of law and democracy are indestructible features of the Indian Constitution. Implicit in the rule of law, going back to the time of the ancient Greeks and the Romans, is the presumption that you are innocent until proven guilty."
"This amendment squarely stands that presumption which is the foundation of jurisprudence in countries across the world completely on its head," he added.
Calling the bill "completely absurd in its conception", the former Union Minister said that even a JPC is not required to discuss the bill, and it should simply be taken back.
"According to my personal opinion, I believe that everyone should participate in parliamentary proceedings, but there is nothing in this law which can be debated in the parliamentary committee. This is so black and white, and it is so absurd in its conception, he (Amit Shah) does not require a JPC, the law is of one paragraph, whatever I am saying here, I will say in the JPC too five minutes later. The law does not make sense, and it should be taken back," he said.
Drawing comparisons with the 10th Schedule in the Constitution, which is the anti-defection law introduced by former PM Rajiv Gandhi, Tewari said that just like how that law has not been effective in stopping defection, the current proposed bills will also not stop corruption in politics.
"When you talk about ethics, then that cannot be taught with law. You tried to teach it with law, but when the 10th Schedule was included in the Constitution, to stop this 'aaya Ram gaya Ram', it was called the anti-defection law. Did defection stop? One which was a 'retail' activity till 1985 that became wholesale, to supermarket, to now being a mega mall activity," he said.
Tewari alleged that the bills will be used to target any leader through fake cases and investigative agencies will be weaponised, including the PMLA being used too.
"There are so many fake cases which are filed, through which law enforcement agencies are weaponised. Tomorrow you can put a case on anyone, and for 30 days they are kept inside. In PMLA law, you won't get bail for 2-3 years," he said.
While multiple political parties, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have said that they will boycott the JPC, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, while still criticising the bills, has expressed willingness to join in on the discussions.
The Congress too has voiced opposition to the bills multiple times, calling it 'draconian' and a 'distraction' from the 'vote chori' allegations raised by Rahul Gandhi. When the bill was tabled in parliament and set to be sent to the JPC, opposition leaders tore the bill up in the house as a mark of protest. (ANI)