Thiruvananthapuram: The proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill that provides legal provisions to remove any chief minister or ministers if they are jailed for 30 days on criminal charges is against the basic principles of Indian laws, and the opposition will strongly protest against this, opposition leader V D Satheesan said on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters, the Congress leader said as per the existing laws, a person is guilty of an offence only when a court of law convicts him or her. "Piloting this bill itself is against natural justice. It is against the principles of law, basic principles of law, because when a person is convicted by a court after a long procedure of trial, then only he/she will be a convicted person; till then, there is a feeling that he/she is an innocent person," Satheesan said.

He said the prosecution has to prove a person guilty of an offence in a court beyond a reasonable doubt; then only he/she becomes a convict. "Any government can initiate cases against any minister. Especially the Enforcement Directorate is very controversial; the CBI is very controversial; they can initiate cases against any chief minister in the opposition or any minister in the opposition, and in ED cases, the court will remand the person, whoever it is," Satheesan said.

He said this bill provides legal power to remove such ministers. "This is against the basic principles of law and against natural justice, and we will protest against this," he added.

The remarks came as the government plans to introduce three bills in Parliament on Wednesday to remove any Prime Minister, Union Minister, Chief Minister or state/UT minister who is arrested or detained on serious criminal charges for 30 consecutive days. If any one of them is arrested and detained in custody for consecutive 30 days for offences that attract a jail term of at least five years, they will lose their job on the 31st day.