Lok Sabha Question No. 142 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-02
Subject: One Nation One Election
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Gopal Chinayya Shetty, Prataprao  Jadhav, Shrirang Appa Barne, Sudheer Gupta, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Manne Srinivas Reddy, Adoor Prakash

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 142

TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 02 ND  FEBRUARY, 2024

## ONE NATION ONE ELECTI0N

## 142. SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY:

SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK:

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE:

SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY:

ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH :

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  high  powered  committee  for  'One  Nation  One  Election' constituted  under  the  chairmanship  of  former  President  Ram  Nath  Kovind  has submitted its report to the Government;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the progress made therein and the time by which it is likely to submit its report;
- (c) whether the committee has sought suggestions from the general public and stakeholders in this regard and if so, the details thereof indicating the number of suggestions received till date;
- (d)  whether  the  committee  has  set  any  deadline  to  consider  the  suggestions received from various quarters and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Law Commission was invited by the committee to discuss its own proposal, if so, the details thereof; and
- (f)  the  purview  of  the  Committee  including  changes  to  the  constitution,  ECIs Model code of conduct and ratification by States etc.?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE;

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a) :  No Sir.

- (b) and (c) :  The High Level Committee has sought suggestions from the political parties on 18 th  October, 2023 and from the general public through public notice on 01 st   January,  2024 via emails,  website  (www.onoe.gov.in) and Post. The total suggestions received from the general public are 21,377 and from the political  parties  are  35.  No  specific  time  limit  has  been  provided  for submission of the report by the High Level Committee.
- (d) :    No final deadline has been set by the High Level Committee.
- (e) : The Law Commission of India was invited by the High Level Committee on 25.10.2023  to  provide  their  suggestions  and  viewpoints  on  the  issue  of simultaneous elections in the country.
- (f) : The purview of the  High Level Committee is contained in the terms and reference placed at annexure 'A'.

*******

[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART I, SECTION 1]

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

## RESOLUTION

New Delhi, the    2 nd September, 2023

F.No.H-11019/03/2023-Leg.II.- WHEREAS elections to the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of States were mostly held simultaneously from 1951-52 to 1967 after which this cycle got broken and now, elections are held almost every year and within a year too at different times, which result in massive expenditure by the Government and other stakeholders, diversion of security forces and other electoral officers engaged in such elections from their primary duties for significantly prolonged periods, disruption in developmental work on account of prolonged application of Model Code of Conduct, etc.;

AND WHEREAS the Law Commission of India in its  170 th   Report  on  Reforms  of  the  Electoral Laws observed that: ' This cycle of elections every year, and in the out of season, should be put an end to. We must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once. It is true that we cannot conceive or provide for all the situations and eventualities that may arise whether on account of the use of Article 356 (which of course has come down substantially after the decision of Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai vs Union of India) or for other reasons, yet the holding of a separate election to a Legislative Assembly should be an exception and not the rule. The rule ought to be 'one election once in five years for Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies' .';

AND WHEREAS the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances,  Law  and  Justice  in  its  79 th Report  on  'Feasibility  of  Holding  Simultaneous  Election  to  the House  of  People  (Lok  Sabha)  and  StateLegislativeAssemblies'  submitted  in  December,  2015  has  also examined  the  matter  and  recommended  an  alternative  and  practical  method  of  holding  simultaneous elections in two phases;

NOW, THEREFORE, in view of the above and that in the national interest it is desirable to have simultaneous elections in the country, the Government of India hereby constitutes a High LevelCommittee [hereinafter referred to as 'HLC']to examine the issue of simultaneous elections and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country.

1. The HLC shall comprise of the following persons, namely: -

|   1. | Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Former President of India                                           | Chairman   |
|------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------|
|    2 | Shri Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Government of India | Member     |

|   3. | Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of Single Largest Party inOpposition, Lok Sabha   | Member   |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------|
|    4 | Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Former Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha                       | Member   |
|    5 | Shri N.K.Singh, Former Chairman, 15 th Finance Commission                             | Member   |
|    6 | Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap, Former Secretary General, Lok Sabha                           | Member   |
|    7 | Shri Harish Salve, Senior Advocate                                                    | Member   |
|    8 | Shri Sanjay Kothari, Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner                              | Member.  |

2. Shri  Arjun  Ram  Meghwal,  Minister  of  State  (IndependentCharge)  Ministry  of  Law  and  Justice, Government of India shall attend the meetings of the HLC as Special Invitee.

3. Shri Niten Chandra, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Legal Affairs shall be Secretary to the HLC.

4. The terms and reference of the HLCshall be to-

(a)  examine  and  make  recommendation  for  holding  simultaneous  elections  to  the  House  of  the People  (Lok  Sabha),  State  Legislative  Assemblies,Municipalities  and  Panchayats,  keeping  in  view  the existing  framework under the Constitution of India and  other  statutory provisions,  and for that  purpose, examine and recommend  specific amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the rules made thereunder and any other law or rules which would require amendments for the purpose of holding simultaneous elections;

(b) examine and recommend, if the amendments to the Constitution would require ratification by the States;

(c) analyse and recommend possible solution in a scenario of simultaneous elections emerging out of hungHouse, adoption of no-confidence motion, or defection or any such other event;

(d)  suggest  a  framework  for  synchronisation  of  elections  and  specifically,  suggest  the  phases  and time  frame  within  which  simultaneous  elections  may  be  held  if  they  cannot  be  held  in  one  go  andalso suggest any amendments to the Constitution and other laws in this regard and propose such rules that may be required in such circumstances;

(e)  recommend  necessary  safeguards  for  ensuring  the  continuity  of  the  cycle  of  simultaneous elections  and  recommend  necessary  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  so  that  the  cycle  of  simultaneous elections is not disturbed;

- (f) examine the logistics and manpower required, including EVMs, VVPATs, etc., for holding such simultaneous elections;

(g)  examine  and  recommend  the  modalities  of  use  of  a  single  electoral  roll  and  electoral  identity cards  for  identification  of  voters  in  elections  to  the  House  of  the  People  (Lok  Sabha),  State  Legislative Assemblies, Municipalities and Panchayats.

5. The HLC shall commence functioning immediately and make recommendations at the earliest.

6. The headquarters of the HLC shall be at New Delhi.

7. The HLC may decide its own procedure for conducting its meetings and other relevant functions.

8. The HLC may hear and entertain all persons, representations  and  communications  which in the opinion of the HLC shall facilitate its work and enable it to finalise its recommendations.

9. The Chairman and members of the HLC shall be paid allowances as follows-

(a)Chairman  of  the  HLC  shall  beentitled  for  such  allowances  as  provided  in  the  President's Emoluments and Pension Act, 1951;

(b)  Members of the  HLC  who  are  Member  of  Parliament,  shall  be  entitled  to  such  allowances  as defined in clause (a) of section 2 of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959;

(c) All other Members of the HLC shall be entitled to Travelling Allowance at the rates and as per rules applicable to the government servants of the highest grade.

10. The Legislative Department,Ministry of Law and Justice shall provide Office space, secretarial assistance and other logistics support to the HLC.

11. The  expenditure  of  the  HLC  shall  be  met  through  a  separate  budgetary  allocation  by  the Government under the relevant budget heads of the Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department).

[F.No.H-11019/03/2023-Leg.II]

( Dr. Reeta Vasishta ) Secretary to the Govt. of India