NEW DELHI: Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and senior lawyer Harish Salve will depose before the fourth and fifth meetings of the joint Parliamentary committee (JPC) scrutinising the ‘One Nation One Election (ONOE)’ bill, on March 11 and March 17.
Along with Gogoi, Justice Rajendra Menon, former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and the Chairperson of the Armed Forces Tribunal, will also depose before the panel on Tuesday. Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, former Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India and former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, will interact with the panel on March 17.
The parliamentary committee’s agenda for the March 11 and 17 meetings is briefly listed as “interaction with legal experts”.
Gogoi was nominated for Rajya Sabha in 2020, a year after his retirement as a CJI in November 2019. He presided over the Supreme Court for around 13 months, which was marred by many controversies. At the third meeting of the JPC, former Chief Justice of India U U Lalit said that the Bill will not pass legal test in the Supreme Court. Lalit also made several suggestions, including rolling out simultaneous polls in a phased manner.
During his deposition before the panel, Lalit said the concept of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections was good in theory but several factors should be addressed for its smooth implementation. Besides Lalit, former Law Commission of India chairperson Ritu Raj Awasthi who attended the meeting, argued in support of the Bill. Awasthi was of the view that the Bill is in accordance with the basic structure of the Constitution and it doesn’t violate the Constitution or undermine federalism.
However, several Opposition members criticised the Bill, claiming “one nation one election” will weaken democracy by tinkering with tenure of legislatures and impinge on people’s rights.