Lok Sabha extends tenure of committee examining 'one nation, one election' bills

New Delhi: The tenure of Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Bills seeking to introduce simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies was on Thursday extended till the Budget Session.

Committee Chairman P P Chaudhary, a senior BJP MP, moved the motion seeking extension of the tenure of the Joint Committee on the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, up to the first day of the last week of the 2026 Budget session and it was adopted by a voice vote by Lok Sabha.

The tenure of the committee was expiring as in the Monsoon Session, time was given till the last week of the Winter session. The 'One Nation, One Election' Bills have attracted criticism from the Opposition.

The Bills were introduced on December 17 in Lok Sabha last year and sent to the Joint Committee for further scrutiny. The 39-member multi-party panel held its first meeting on January 8 this year.

A section of jurists who have appeared before the panel had found fault with a provision in the Bill that provides clearance to the Election Commission to decide on postponing Assembly elections, saying it will open to questions of violating the basic structure doctrine and Article 14.

While senior Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal appeared before the panel on Wednesday, it is scheduled to meet recently retired former Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on December 17. On the same day, IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath, and Sanjeev Sanyal, who is a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, have also been called to appear.

Former Chief Justices of India Sanjiv Khanna, U U Lalit, D Y Chandrachud and J S Khehar have also appeared before the panel earlier.

Justice Khanna is learnt to have told the panel that postponement of elections by the EC might result in “indirect” President’s Rule, which “in other words” the taking over of the reins of the state government by the union government. He had felt that this “will be questionable judicially, as violating” the federal structure.

Justices Lalit, Chandrachud and Khehar were also among others who had flagged concerns over the provision in the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 that allows EC to unilaterally recommend to the President on not holding election to a state Assembly along with other polls to be held simultaneously.