HYDERABAD: Warning that they could lead to a “Gestapo-like” system replacing elected governments, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday opposed three Bills introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, provide for automatic removal of any minister detained or kept in custody for 30 days.
Owaisi said the amendments gave executive agencies unchecked powers. “They allow bureaucrats to act as judge, jury and executioner on flimsy allegations. This undermines representative democracy,” the AIMIM chief argued.
He maintained that in a parliamentary democracy, ministers can be removed only by the prime minister’s recommendation or when the Council of Ministers loses confidence in the legislature. The proposed change, he said, “places elected representatives at the mercy of unelected officials”.
Owaisi also pointed out that the Bills punish ministers not only if arrested but even if merely detained, an administrative action that does not require proof of an offence. “This strips accountability from the people and hands it to agencies,” he said.
Citing Article 74(1), Owaisi argued that the amendments violate the constitutional provision under which the Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister, advises the President. “This is a move towards a police state. It reminds us of 1933, when the Gestapo was formed in Germany,” he remarked.
Owaisi accused the Centre of misusing legal provisions to destabilise opposition. He referred to Section 152 of the BNS, related to sedition, which he said had been applied against journalist Siddharth Varadarajan despite assurances it would not be used. He added that Sections 316 and 9 of the BNS, along with Section 4 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), could also be used against elected governments.
“These Bills are nothing but an attempt to create a Gestapo and ensure democracy does not survive,” he said.