Panels examining Bill for removal of Ministers and VBSA Bill defer meeting on adopting draft reports

The Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill on Saturday (July 18, 2026) cancelled its July 20 meeting where the Bill’s draft report was to be adopted. This came a day after the Committee examining the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill to remove Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and Ministers if they are detained in prison for 30 days in serious criminal offences deferred its meeting.

Opposition leaders such as Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh and Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghose called the development, which comes just ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, a “big victory” for the Opposition. In a social media statement, Mr. Ramesh said, “The shadow of the embarrassment that the Modi government had to endure in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 2026, still lingers.” On April 17, the government’s effort to pass Bills related to the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies was defeated in the Lower House.

On Saturday (July 18, 2026) evening, Mr. Ramesh referred to the defeat of the delimitation-related Bills in April as a “humiliation suffered by the Modi government” that had cast a “long shadow that persists in spite of the Union Home Minister’s bluff, brag, and bluster”.

While the Committee examining the Constitution Amendment Bill on Friday (July 17, 2026) said it had deferred its meeting so as to make room for more consultations, the panel on the VBSA Bill, which intends to overhaul the country’s higher education regulatory framework, on Saturday said it it had deferred its meeting until further notice.

The panel on the Constitution Amendment Bill, headed by BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, in its draft report, recommended replacing “removal” of Ministers with “suspension”. The Committee on the VBSA Bill, headed by BJP MP D. Purandeswari, in its report, revealed that the Centre had agreed to changes proposed by its NDA-allied governments in Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya over concerns of over-centralisation, as reported by The Hindu.

The Trinamool Congress is learnt to have also submitted a formal dissent note to the committee on the VBSA Bill, in which it has called the legislation a “constitutional Trojan Horse” being presented as a standards-setting framework for higher education. The Trinamool’s note further expounds that the proposed VBSA architecture exceeds Parliament’s constitutional role, weakens cooperative federalism, concentrates executive power, affects academic freedom and institutional autonomy, and proposes reform without a financing framework — issues that were reportedly cited by Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who is also on the panel.

During deliberations, Mr. Singh is also reported to have raised concerns that the Centre was going beyond what the Union List allowed Parliament to do in bringing this Bill. Mr. Singh had gone on to argue that by entering the domain of establishing, regulating, and winding up universities, the Centre was also encroaching upon States’ jurisdiction determined under the State and Concurrent lists of the Constitution.

Apart from recommending that PM, CMs, and Ministers be “suspended” instead of “removed” in the provisions of the Constitution (130th) Amendment Bill, Ms. Sarangi-led Committee also recommended defining “serious criminal offences” as ones with punishment of five years or more in prison, an automatic reversal clause in case of discharge, acquittal, or failure to prosecute, fast-track courts for such cases, and a schedule of offences for this particular Bill.