New Delhi: The Opposition today rose in unison to oppose the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill, 2005 that seeks to remove a Prime Minister, Union Minister, Chief Minister or state Minister if they are arrested or detained for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges calling it anti-Constitutional and a Hitlerian assault on country’s democracy.       

Opposition leaders expressed their strong dissent over the anti-States move against the federative principles of the Constitution as Union Minister Amit Shah moved the bills in the Lok Sabha.

The bill aims to remove a Prime Minister, Union minister, Chief Minister or State Minister if they are arrested or detained for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges.

The Lok Sabha descended into uproar after Congress leader K.C. Venugopal and Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav tore up copies of the three bills, as reported by the media .

Opposition MPs trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, alleging that the government was attempting to push the measures through in haste.

BJP and TMC MPs came close to a scuffle.

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said the bill will end the judiciary’s independence.

“This draconian step comes as a death knell for democracy and federalism in India. This Bill now wants to finish the Independence of our Judiciary. What we are witnessing is unprecedented-- the Bill is nothing short of a Hitlerian assault on the very soul of Indian democracy,” the Bengal Chief Minister said.

“This is regression- towards a system where the law no longer rests with independent Courts but is placed in the hands of vested interests. It is a chilling attempt to establish a rule where judicial scrutiny is silenced, Constitutional safeguards are dismantled, and the people's rights are trampled. This is how authoritarian regimes, even fascist ones in history, consolidated power,” she said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called the bills “draconian” and “undemocratic.”

“It is a completely draconian thing. It goes against everything and to couch it as a measure which is taken as anti-corruption is just to pull the wool over the eyes of the people. Because, what it basically allows a government to do is — You don't even have to be convicted," said Priyanka. “You can put any case on a chief minister and have him arrested for 30 days without even him being convicted, and then he ceases to be chief minister. I think it is absolutely wrong, it is anti-democracy and against the Constitution, it is undemocratic, and it is very unfortunate.”

Congress MP Manish Tewari said the bill destroys rule of law.

“This Bill is destructive of the Basic Structure of the Constitution, which says there should be Rule of Law. Basis of Rule of Law is innocent until proven guilty. This Bill makes an Investigating Office the boss of the Prime Minister of India. It violates the due process clause. Even framing of charge does not substantiate guilt. This Bill turns the fundamentals of Article 21 on their head,” Tewari said.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi opposed the bills in the House, and said: “It gives free run to executive agencies based on suspicion. Losing posts merely on suspicion will follow. It undermines Parliament democracy. The Minister/CM will be at liberty of executive agencies. Has the Home Minister read Article 74(1)? This government is hell-bent on creating a police state.”

TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said, “Having failed in its attempt to misuse the EC to implement SIR, the government has now activated another “E” — ED - to bring in laws that target opposition leaders, crush democracy and manipulate the people’s mandate by toppling State Govts. This government has proven itself to be anti-people, anti-farmer, anti-poor, anti-SC, anti-ST, anti-OBC, anti FEDERAL and above all ANTI INDIA. BJP is selling the Constitution of our country and allowing INDIA to be run as private property in the hands of INCOMPETENT OBSESSIVE TYRANTS!”

TMC Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra said, “Opposition predictions come true- Constitution being changed by BJP with only 240 MPs. The new bill bypasses both federal structure & judiciary - Union govt can use ED CBI to arrest elected opposition CM on fake charges and sack them without being proven guilty by a court.”

CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas called the proposal “draconian.”

In a post, he wrote, “The new bill by Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, purportedly in the name of 'public interest, welfare, and good governance,' is, in reality…where central agencies are deployed against opposition leaders, the provisions will be misused for ulterior motives.”

Meanwhile, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor said, "This bill has been introduced because, when the Constitution was drafted, the people who created it and the country's founders may not have anticipated that those in power would become so corrupt and criminal that they would have to go to jail. Moreover, they would not relinquish their positions even after imprisonment. I believe the bill is good because if a leader is accused and sent to jail, they cannot continue running the government from jail."

As expected, Shah rejected the charges, saying the bills would be referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament, where members of both Houses, including the Opposition, would be able to suggest changes.

“We cannot be so shameless that we continue to occupy constitutional positions while facing serious charges,” Shah said.

Experts said that the move to bring such a bill is sinister in intent as the Centre which has the monopoly of probing agency could use these agencies to put a sitting Chief Minister coming from the opposition ranks in  detention on cooked up charges to remove him from power thus destroying the federative spirit of the Constitution.