Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah submitted a 12-page note before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill, asserting that the proposed legislation is unconstitutional and violative of democratic principles and the federal structure, according to sources.
The JPC meeting on Monday was attended by legal experts A.P. Shah and Harish Salve. Shah and Salve took questions from the members of the committee, headed by BJP MP P.P. Chaudhary, separately in a nearly five-hour sitting.
Shah criticized the bill on various levels, including the power given to the Election Commission to recommend postponing state assembly polls.
Meanwhile, senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared before the panel, stated that the proposed law meets constitutional requirements. He rejected arguments that the ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) bill violates the Constitution’s basic structure and federal principles. However, in response to a query by DMK MP P. Wilson, Salve admitted that ‘One Nation, One Election’ is conditional legislation.
He said the bill does not curb people’s voting rights, adding that the constitutional amendments proposed by one of the laws are well within the bounds of the Constitution, sources said.
Shah told the committee that assembly elections should be held for a full five-year term. The bill proposes that once the law for simultaneous elections is notified, polls for all state assemblies will be held along with the next parliamentary election, irrespective of the length of their remaining terms.
Shah disagreed with the view that holding simultaneous polls would result in significant public savings.
Shah, who is also a former Law Commission chairman, said he would share his views with the committee later when asked about alternatives to the bill’s proposals.
The Constitution Amendment Bill on ‘One Nation, One Election’ is currently under review by the Joint Parliamentary Committee.
The meeting was held at the Parliament Annexe building, chaired by BJP MP and ‘One Nation, One Election’ JPC Chairperson P.P. Chaudhary, and attended by Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Randeep Surjewala.
ONOE has been widely criticized, with the Kerala and Tamil Nadu Assemblies unanimously passing resolutions opposing the Union government’s ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal, taking a strong stand against the Union Cabinet’s push for simultaneous elections across the country.
 examining the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill, asserting that the proposed legislation is unconstitutional and violative of democratic principles and the federal structure, according to sources.){kind=link}