NEW DELHI: The parliamentary committee scrutinising the constitutional amendment bill that proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections will seek an extension in its tenure from Parliament as it needs more time to gather views of different stakeholders, including national and regional political parties, the panel’s chairperson P P Chaudhary said on Friday.Its current tenure is till the first day of the last week of the coming Winter Session, which is scheduled between Dec 1 and Dec 19.“The committee needs more time,” Chaudhary told TOI, while emphasising that opinions of various constitutional experts make it clear that the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, commonly known as one-nation-one-election (ONOE) bill, is not violative of the Constitution’s basic structure, a key argument of opposition parties against the proposed law.NDA govt’s vigorous push for simultaneous polls has also received full-throttle endorsement from Law Commission. The “refreshing concept of synchronising of elections” is in larger national interest and is “squarely within the periphery of amending powers of the Parliament,” it has said, according to sources.In its written opinion to the committee, Law Commission is learnt to have said, “Far from undermining democracy, the proposed bill aims to strengthen it by ensuring stability, reducing the constant drain of elections, and allowing govts to focus on governance.” Its representatives along with those from Election Commission of India are scheduled to appear before the Chaudhary-led committee on Dec 4. It has rejected the arguments of opposition parties and some experts that the bill violates the Constitution’s basic structure and federal character.It has also backed some of the more contentious provisions of the bill, especially related to the sweeping powers given to EC under its Article 82A(5) to defer an assembly poll if the poll body thinks that it cannot be conducted simultaneously with that of Lok Sabha.Besides other experts, some former CJIs too, in their comments to the committee, have questioned the “unfettered” powers delegated to EC in the bill and suggested corrective measures, including the need for parliamentary nod in such cases.Law Commission, in its opinion, has equated EC with judiciary, executive and legislature when it comes to upholding democracy, asserting that Article 324 of the Constitution bestows on it extensive and broad powers and protects it from any external influence.
