No oppn in JPC for tainted netas bill? Centre weighs options amid INDIA bloc's silence

The INDIA bloc has been divided on the Joint Committee of Parliament announced by Speaker Om Birla to study the Bills

The Opposition parties are yet to form the Joint Committee that will review the three bills on the removal of the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and Ministers arrested on serious criminal charges for 30 days.

A report by Indian Express stated that a panel comprising MPs of the NDA, smaller parties, and Independents may be set up.

“The Opposition parties have been sent reminders multiple times. They have not yet informed the Speaker whether they are nominating or boycotting the joint panel,” a government insider told IE.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025; and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha on August 20.

The proposed law will cover the Prime Minister, Union ministers, Chief Ministers and ministers of Union Territories. This bill was tabled to reportedly avoid a situation when Arvind Kejriwal continued to be the chief minister while in custody. The former Delhi Chief Minister had not resigned for nearly six months when he lodged in Tihar jail in the alleged Delhi liquor scam case.

However, the INDIA bloc has since been divided on the Joint Committee of Parliament announced by Speaker Om Birla to study the Bills.

According to the IE report, one section, including the Left and reportedly the Congress, is in favour of joining the panel. However, parties such as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Samajwadi Party (SP) plan to boycott it. Sources told IE that Congress, the SP, and the Trinamool Congress were among the parties that had been recently sent a reminder.

Former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achary told IE that the formation of a joint committee without the Opposition would be unprecedented.

Calling it a “tricky situation”, he said a parliamentary committee consists of all the members nominated by the Speaker. “The Speaker has not yet nominated anyone for this joint panel, which consists of members of various parties based on their strength. The Speaker cannot constitute a partial committee. If it has members only from the ruling combine, then we cannot say a full committee has been constituted. It will be an NDA panel, not a parliamentary panel. If it does not have anyone from the key Opposition parties, it will not have any credibility,” he said.

Achary said Speaker Om Birla could convene a meeting of all parties to persuade them to nominate members to the joint committee.

The Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Manickam Tagore, told IC that has party has not yet taken a call on  joining the panel. “The Congress leadership, including our president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, will discuss the issue with other parties in the INDIA bloc. The Congress has to evolve a consensus on it… We want it to be an INDIAN bloc decision,” he said.