(In first signs of strong opposition to Govt's move on 'One Nation, One Election', Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declines to accept 'membership' in the Kovind-led panel)
The HLC shall commence functioning immediately and make recommendations at the earliest.
The expenditure of the HLC shall be met through a separate budgetary allocation by the Government under the relevant budget heads of the Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department).
A gazette notification said that the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice in its 79th Report on ‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Election to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies’ submitted in December, 2015 had examined the matter and recommended an alternative and practical method of holding simultaneous elections in two phases
NOW, THEREFORE, in view of the above and that in the national interest it is desirable to have simultaneous elections in
the country, the Government of India hereby constitutes a High Level Committee (HLC) to examine the
issue of simultaneous elections and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country.
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HLC - Panel
Ram Nath Kovind,
Former President of India
Chairman
Amit Shah,
Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Government of India
Member
3. Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury,
Leader of Single Largest Party in Opposition, Lok Sabha
Member
4. Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad,
Former Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha
Member
5. Shri N.K.Singh,
Former Chairman, 15th Finance Commission
Member
6. Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap,
Former Secretary General, Lok Sabha
Member
7. Shri Harish Salve,
Senior Advocate
Member
8. Shri Sanjay Kothari,
Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner
Member.
**** Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India shall attend the meetings of the HLC as Special Invitee.
Niten Chandra, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Legal Affairs shall be Secretary to the HLC.
The terms and reference of the HLC shall be to
—
(a) examine and make recommendation for holding simultaneous elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha), State
Legislative Assemblies, Municipalities and Panchayats, keeping in view the existing framework under the
Constitution of India and other statutory provisions,
and for that purpose, examine and recommend specific
amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Representation of the People Act,
1951 and the rules made thereunder and any other law or rules which would require amendments for the purpose of
holding simultaneous election.
examine and recommend, if the amendments to the Constitution would require ratification by the States;
(c) analyse and recommend possible solution in a scenario of simultaneous elections emerging out of hung House,
adoption of no-confidence motion, or defection or any such other event;
(d) suggest a framework for synchronisation of elections and specifically, suggest the phases and time frame within which
simultaneous elections may be held if they cannot be held in one go and also suggest any amendments to the
Constitution and other laws in this regard and propose such rules that may be required in such circumstances;
(e) recommend necessary safeguards for ensuring the continuity of the cycle of simultaneous elections and recommend
necessary amendments to the Constitution, so that the cycle of simultaneous elections is not disturbed;
(f) examine the logistics and manpower required, including EVMs, VVPATs, etc., for holding such simultaneous elections;
(g) examine and recommend the modalities of use of a single electoral roll and electoral identity cards for identification of voters in elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha), State Legislative Assemblies, Municipalities and Panchayats.
The HLC shall commence functioning immediately and make recommendations at the earliest.
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Govt's note:
WHEREAS elections to the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of States
were mostly held simultaneously from 1951-52 to 1967 after which this cycle got broken and now, elections are held almost every year and within a year too at different times,
which result in massive expenditure by the Government and other stakeholders,
diversion of security forces and other electoral officers engaged in such elections from their primary duties for significantly prolonged periods,
disruption in developmental work on account of prolonged application of Model Code of Conduct, etc.;
AND WHEREAS the Law Commission of India in its 170th Report on Reforms of the Electoral Laws observed that:
“This cycle of elections every year, and in the out of season, should be put an end to.
We must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once. It is true that we cannot conceive or provide for all the situations
and eventualities that may arise whether on account of the use of Article 356 (which of course has come down substantially after the decision of Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai vs Union of India) or for other reasons, yet the holding of a separate election to a Legislative Assembly should be an exception and not the rule.
The rule ought to be ‘one election once in five years for Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies’.”;
AND WHEREAS the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice in its 79th Report on ‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Election to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies’ submitted in December, 2015 has also examined the matter and recommended an alternative and practical method of holding simultaneous elections in two phases;
NOW, THEREFORE, in view of the above and that in the national interest it is desirable to have simultaneous elections in the country, the Government of India hereby constitutes a High Level Committee [hereinafter referred to as ‘HLC’ to examine the issue of simultaneous elections and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has withdrawn himself from the Kovind-chaired panel.
"....... the sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation, months before the general elections, raises serious concerns about ulterior motives of the government," he said in a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in the panel.
"I have no hesitation whatsoever in declining to serve on the Committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash," he said in his letter.
The lawmaker from West Bengal also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal wrote on X: “We believe that the high level committee on simultaneous elections is nothing but a systematic attempt to sabotage India’s parliamentary democracy. In a shocking insult to Parliament, the BJP has appointed a former LOP (Ghulam Nabi Azad) to the Committee instead of Rajya Sabha LOP Mallikarjun Kharge.”
“The question of One Nation, One Election is a political-legal question. Actually, it is more political than legal. Whether the question deserves to be considered at this stage is highly debatable,”
said senior Congress leader P Chidambaram.
“Besides, I am able to recognise only one acknowledged Constitutional Lawyer in the committee. Like every other issue sponsored by the BJP, the issue of One Nation, One Election seems to be a pre-determined and pre-packaged issue,” he said.
ends
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| Photo credit 'Bartaman' Newspaper |
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