130th Amendment Bill: JPC starts people's hearing tomorrow, seeks wide input

New Delhi [India], January 6 : Aparajita Sarangi, BJP MP and Chairperson of the 31-member Parliamentary Joint Committee (JPC), announced the third meeting of the committee reviewing the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, along with related bills on J-K Reorganisation and Union Territories.
The 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill is scheduled for its first public hearing tomorrow, during which the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) will gather stakeholder feedback. The bill aims to remove Ministers, including Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers, who face serious criminal charges carrying imprisonment of 5+ years and detention for 30+ days.
The committee invited the Law Commission of India and the VCs of the National Law University, Delhi, and NALSAR University, Hyderabad, to present their views.
"We want to talk to as many people and organisations as possible," Sarangi said. The bill's objective is to restore "constitutional morality" and ensure accountability of elected representatives.
Chairperson, Justice (Retd.) Dinesh Maheshwari, Law Commission of India, New Delhi, Member-Secretary, Anju Rathi Rana, Law Commission of India, New Delhi, Vice Chancellor, G.S. Bajpai, National Law University, New Delhi, and Vice Chancellor, Krishna Deva Rao NALSAR, Hyderabad, to present views.
Earlier, on December 7, the JPC held its second meeting and conducted comprehensive deliberations on the bill's provisions. The MHA and Law Ministry presented standpoints; MPs raised 25 observations. Key demands: evidence-based justification for bills and international precedents. The MHA got 4 weeks to respond.
The bills aim to remove Ministers, including PM/CMs facing serious criminal charges, 5+ years imprisonment, detained 30+ days, restoring "constitutional morality. The JPC, formed on November 12, 2025, will review these.
Three Bills namely, The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025 were introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 20 and have been referred to a Joint Committee of both the Houses which seek to provide for removal of the Prime Minister or a Minister in the Union Council of Ministers and the Chief Minister or a Minister in the Council of Ministers of States and UTs facing serious criminal charges which are punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 5 years or more and are arrested and detained in custody for more than 30 days, to repose Constitutional morality and faith of the people entrusted on them.
A 31-member Parliamentary Joint Committee, headed by BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, was constituted on November 12, 2025, to review three Bills seeking to remove Ministers of the Union and State governments, including the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers, who face serious criminal charges.