The National Law Commission has once again held a meeting on One Nation One Election Commission.
This was confirmed by Commission Chairman Rituraj Awasthi during an informal conversation. He also said that the National Law Commission is working diligently to finalize the report on One Nation One Election. But a lot of work still remains to be done on this topic- Rituraj Awasthi told to media. We are streamlining it.
Earlier, on the issue of One Nation One Election, the meeting of the committee constituted under the chairmanship of former President Ramnath Kovid was held also on 23 September. National Law Commission was attended that meeting too.
National Law Commission Chairman Rituraj Awasthi said that the issue of POCSO and online FIR was discussed in the National Law Commission meeting held today. After discussion, the report of the commission has been sent to the government. When he was asked whether One Nation One Election was also discussed in this meeting, he said yes, it was also discussed but a lot of work still remains to be done on this topic.
Earlier, sources had claimed that the Law Commission of India is ready to present a report to the government recommending holding simultaneous elections in the country. The National Law Commission may set a tentative deadline for holding simultaneous elections between 2024 and 2029. The report of the 22nd Law Commission will be submitted to the Law Ministry.
In fact, citing national interests, the Government of India had constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of former President Ramnath Kovind to conduct simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha, Assemblies, Municipalities and Panchayats.
The first meeting of the committee chaired by Kovind was held on 23 September. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission NK Singh, former Lok Sabha General Secretary Subhash Kashyap and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari attended this meeting. This high level committee had invited the Law Commission and political parties to give suggestions on the issue of One Nation One Election.
Earlier in 2018, the 21st National Law Commission headed by Justice BS Chauhan (retd) had also recommended ‘One Nation One Election’ in a draft report. However, given the complexity of the issues involved, the commission had said that “the government should once again discuss the matter involving all stakeholders before making final recommendations.” The failure of this commission was that its tenure ended even before the final report was filed. After which the 22nd National Law Commission was formed. The tenure of this commission was fixed in February 2020 for a period of three years. However, its Chairman was appointed in November 2022. Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, former Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, was made its chairperson. In February this year, when the tenure of the Commission was about to end, the government has now extended its tenure till 31 August 2024.
