Kapil Sibal slams govt's 'distorted logic of morality' behind bill to sack jailed ministers

New Delhi, Aug 26 Former Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday questioned the Narendra Modi government's "distorted logic of morality" behind the introduction of the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill 2025, claiming that the real intention behind the proposed law is to imprison rivals and bring down governments of non-BJP parties.

The Rajya Sabha MP accused the government of misleading the country and plotting to use the proposed law to harass Opposition leaders under the guise of aiming to set high moral standards in public life.

"I was surprised by the Home Minister’s (Amit Shah) remark that the bill was introduced for morality. The Home Minister should stop talking about morality and tell the public if any BJP government minister has been arrested and jailed even for a day," he said at a press meet.

"The government has proposed a law that can be used as a tool to bring down non-BJP governments," he said.

He also cited examples of Chief Ministers and Ministers from non-BJP parties who were arrested, faced long incarceration and are still undergoing trials.

"I was surprised. They have brought down governments under the garb of morality. They have given Cabinet Minister posts to several politicians who were earlier facing corruption charges," he said, giving examples of “tainted” leaders from the Congress and the NCP who have changed flanks and joined the ruling party.

"It is surprising that over the past nine years, some cases still haven’t seen any action... This information is known to the Home Minister, but it seems they have forgotten. Once people are out, they tend to forget how long they were detained."

Sibal said: "They claim that bail will be granted within 30 days. I do not wish to make this a personal issue, but it is surprising. Furthermore, a new law, BNS, has been passed, and its provisions seem to have been forgotten. The BNS allows a prosecuting agency to seek police custody up to 60-90 days, and they are talking of granting bail to accused Ministers in 30 days."

Slamming the government’s claim of speedy justice in matters related to jailed Ministers, he shared data about a few non-BJP Ministers and Chief Ministers who were arrested over the past decade and are still facing trials.

Jitender Tomar of the Aam Aadmi Party was arrested in 2015, and he is still facing trial after the lapse of 10 years, he said.

Madan Mitra of the Trinamool Congress was arrested in 2014, got bail in 2016, and is facing trial now, after 11 years, while Nawab Malik of the Nationalist Congress Party spent 18 months in judicial custody, after his arrest in 2022, before getting bail, said Sibal.

He also cited the case of AAP leader and former Delhi Minister Satyendra Kumar Jain who remained in jail for 18 months after his arrest in 2022. Jain got bail in 2024, and a closure report in the case has been filed by the CBI now.

He also gave the example of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who spent 17 months in jail, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, who spent five months in jail, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who spent six months in jail and former Union Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram, who spent 106 days in jail in 2016.

"Trial in cases of all these Ministers and Chief Ministers is still pending," he said.

Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said in an interview that the Opposition should not teach him lessons on morality, adding that when he was accused and the CBI sent him a summons, he resigned the very next day.

He said he did not take the oath for any constitutional post until all the charges against him were dismissed.

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