Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the charges once brought against him were “false,” but he abided by constitutional principles by resigning from his post before going to jail. His remarks came in response to Congress leader KC Venugopal’s question over his arrest in the Lok Sabha during Parliament’s monsoon session.
The exchange took place shortly after Amit Shah introduced three bills in the Lower House, including the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025. The bill seeks to remove the Prime Minister or chief ministers facing corruption or serious offence charges if they remain in detention for 30 consecutive days.
He also tabled the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The latter proposes amending section 54 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, to provide for the removal of a chief minister or minister in case of arrest or detention on serious criminal charges.
Amid ruckus, Congress MP KC Venugopal asked, “This bill is meant to sabotage the basic principles of the Constitution. BJP members are saying that this bill is to bring morality into politics. Can I ask the home minister a question? When he was the home minister of Gujarat, he was arrested – did he uphold morality at that time?”
Responding sharply, Amit Shah said, “Now listen to me, I want to clear the record. False charges were levelled against me. I had resigned before being arrested out of a moral responsibility. And I didn’t take up any post until I was acquitted by the courts…”
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Amit Shah further requested Speaker Om Birla to refer the three bills to a Joint Committee of the Houses consisting of 21 members of the Lok Sabha to be nominated by the Speaker and 10 members of the Rajya Sabha to be nominated by the deputy chairman.
Amit Shah’s arrest in 2010
In July 2010, then Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the alleged fake encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi, and associate Tulsiram Prajapati. The agency had implicated him in a conspiracy, citing phone records and other evidence
Shah resigned from his ministerial position prior to the arrest. He was remanded to judicial custody at Sabarmati Jail before securing bail later that year.
In December 2014, a special CBI court discharged him from all charges, citing a lack of evidence.
