NEW DELHI: The government is yet to make public the 22nd Law Commission’s report on ‘One Nation, One Election’, which was submitted to the Union law ministry in March this year.
According to law ministry sources, the 22nd Law Commission of India headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi submitted the final report on simultaneous elections before he demitted office in March. Justice Awasthi quit the panel after he was appointed as a judicial member of anti-corruption body Lokpal.
It assumes significance as the Union Cabinet recently approved the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal of a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. Though the Law Commission began its work in November 2022 — much earlier than the Kovind panel — its final report has not yet been published or made available in public domain. It was in September last year that the government set up the Kovind committee.
According to sources, the law panel recommended synchronising the terms of state assemblies in “two phases” in the next five years so that the first simultaneous elections could be held in May-June 2029. The report suggested that in the two election cycles, the tenure of some of the states may have to be extended while some may have to be curtailed through Constitutional amendments.
It also suggested adding a chapter to the Constitution on ‘one poll’, with “power of non-extant” to override other provisions in the Constitution dealing with terms of assemblies.