ONOE bill doesn’t violate tenets of federalism, experts tell JPC

NEW DELHI: Legal experts on Tuesday endorsed 'one nation, one election' (ONOE) bill as they appeared before

Joint Parliamentary Committee

examining proposed legislation and said it did not violate "basic structure doctrine on

federalism

" and was not against

democratic principles

of Constitution.
Former CJI U U Lalit suggested that concept of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls was good in theory but several factors should be addressed for its smooth implementation. Former Law Commission chairperson

Ritu Raj Awasthi

too shared his views as JPC began consulting experts and stakeholders.
Unlike JPC meetings on contentious issues like Waqf Amendment Bill, the members are learnt to have had a prolonged discussion on Tuesday even as opposition criticised the concept, with

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

claiming ONOE would weaken democracy by tinkering with tenure of legislatures and impinge on people's rights.
A BJP ally wondered if a gap of five years between two elections would weaken elected representatives' accountability to people, they added.

IAS officer Niten Chandra, secretary of the high-level Kovind committee, and E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, a senior advocate and former Congress MP who had headed a parliamentary committee in 2015 that favoured

simultaneous polls

, also appeared before the panel. They could not share their views due to paucity of time and are expected to present their views in the next meeting.
Awasthi is learnt to have told the panel that the proposed measure did not violate the basic structure doctrine on federalism and was not against the democratic principles of the Constitution.
Awasthi, a member of anti-corruption watchdog Lokpal, is learnt to have told the committee the bill, which lays down the legal framework to hold simultaneous polls, did not violate the right to vote for eligible citizens.
Separately, in a written submission, legislative department of

law ministry

told the committee that holding simultaneous polls was not undemocratic and did not hurt the federal structure.
Responding to a set of queries posed by members, the legislative department is learnt to have said that simultaneous elections were held in the past before the cycle was broken due to various reasons, including imposition of President's rule in some states. Sources said while ministry answered some questions, others were sent to Election Commission for a calibrated response.