Key safeguard : Ensure accountability without skipping due process

CONCERNS raised by Opposition parties have prompted a joint parliamentary committee to recommend an important safeguard in the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill. The panel has suggested that the proposed provision for the “removal” of the Prime Minister, chief ministers and ministers after 30 consecutive days in judicial custody be replaced with “suspension”. This is an attempt to strike a much-needed constitutional balance. The reinstatement clause, depending on the outcome of the judicial proceedings, is an acknowledgement that accountability must coexist with due process. The original proposal, which sought automatic removal, invited criticism from the Congress and several regional parties for equating custody with guilt. In a democracy governed by the rule of law, arrest is only the beginning of a judicial process, not its conclusion. Members of the executive, like every citizen, enjoy the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Any law that prematurely imposes irreversible consequences would undermine this foundational principle.