NEW DELHI: The joint parliamentary committee examining proposed legislation for ‘One Nation, One Election’ will meet media personalities and economists on Monday to seek their views on the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The panel will interact with media personalities including Shekhar Gupta, Rajat Sharma, Rajdeep Sardesai, Suhail Seth, Sudhir Chaudhary and Anjana Om Kashyap, among others. The panel will also meet economists V Anantha Nageswaran, Prof S Mahendra Dev, S Gurumurthy and Prachi Mishra, sources said.
Last week, the panel shelved its proposed October 6 visit to the Supreme Court to interact with judges on the legislation amid Opposition concerns over separation of powers. It was learned that SC judges declined to meet the panel members as the proposed legislation may be challenged in the SC later.
However, panel chairman and BJP MP PP Chaudhary said the visit had been put off because the committee members’ dates did not match. The notice announcing the proposed informal discussion with the CJI and other judges was circulated among the members on September 24. The proposed visit drew objections from the Opposition, with at least one member of the joint committee writing to Chaudhary to seek its cancellation.
The MP is learnt to have argued that an interaction with the CJI or other sitting judges on the constitutional validity or merits of the proposed legislation could raise concerns over the separation of powers and the institutional independence of Parliament and the judiciary. The 31-member JPC was constituted to examine and suggest changes to the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
