NEW DELHI: Union minister Amit Shah called the charges, once brought against him, “false” on Wednesday, asserting that he adhered to constitutional principles by resigning from his post before his arrest. His remarks came during a heated exchange over the “Bill” that Shah tabled in the Lok Sabha, in response to Congress leader KC Venugopal’s query about his 2010 arrest during Parliament’s monsoon session. The discussion occurred shortly after Shah introduced three bills in the Lower House, including the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025. This bill proposes the removal of the Prime Minister or chief ministers facing corruption or serious offence charges if they remain in detention for 30 consecutive days.Additionally, the home minister tabled the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The latter seeks to amend section 54 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, to allow for the removal of a chief minister or minister in the event of arrest or detention on serious criminal charges. During the session, Congress MP KC Venugopal questioned, “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, Shah stated, “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…” 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 and 10 members of the Rajya Sabha to be nominated by the Speaker and the deputy chairman, respectively. 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 implicated him in a conspiracy, presenting phone records and other evidence. Shah resigned from his ministerial position prior to the arrest and 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 due to a lack of evidence.