Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi appears before JPC on ‘One Nation, One Election’; cautions against giving unrestricted powers to EC

Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon on Tuesday appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the ‘One Nation One Election’ Bill and suggested certain changes in the Bill aimed at facilitating simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

Headed by BJP MP PP Chaudhary, the JPC is examining the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 17, 2024. The Bill seeks to empower the poll panel to conduct simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

"They (Justice Gogoi and Justice Menon) gave their presentation, and I am happy that all the members of the JPC, across party lines, took a lot of interest and asked for clarifications. Questions were asked on every aspect and both the meetings went beyond the specified time,” Chaudhary said.

“This shows the interest of members, and I am happy that each member of the JPC is working in national interest," the JPC Chairman said.

Justice Gogoi – a member of the Rajya Sabha – deposed as a constitutional expert before the JPC this evening and presented his views on the contentious issue, sources said. Justice Gogoi cautioned against giving unrestricted powers to the Election Commission to decide the poll schedule, they said, adding that the former CJI suggested changes in Section 82A of the Bill to plug loopholes. However, they refused to divulge further details as parliamentary committee proceedings were privileged.

Last month, former CJI UU Lalit had appeared before the JPC and reportedly suggested staggering of the entire process and flagged the legal challenges.

Justice Gogoi had earlier supported simultaneous elections, citing advantages like cost efficiency, administrative simplification, increased voter engagement, and decreased influence of money and muscle power.

According to the report of the high-level committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind on ‘One Nation, One Election’, Justice Gogoi had also proposed the requirement of constitutional amendments and implementation strategies like consensus building, establishment of an appropriate legislative framework, and enhanced voter awareness campaigns.

Earlier, the Kovind Committee had recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, and the Union Cabinet had accepted the panel’s recommendations and the NDA Government tabled two bills in Lok Sabha to make it possible.