Bill for simultaneous elections gives unfettered powers to Election Commission of India, says former CJI Sanjiv Khanna

The proposed legislation for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies confers “unfettered discretion” to the Election Commission, former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna told a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Tuesday (August 19, 2025).

The committee headed by BJP MP and senior leader P.P. Chaudhary is reviewing the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, commonly called the one nation, one election Bill.

Justice (retd.) Khanna is the fifth former Chief Justice of India to underline this issue with the proposed legislation. Before him, Justice U.U. Lalit, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Jagdish Singh Kehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also had pointed out various legal infirmities in the proposed legislation. 

The committee had a three-hour meeting where the members queried Justice Khanna on all aspects of the legislation.

The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, proposes to insert Article 82A as well as clauses to Articles 83 and 172 of the Constitution. 

‘Arbitrary clause’

Justice Khanna said Clause 5 of the proposed Article 82A “confers unfettered discretion” to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to decide when the election to a Legislative Assembly cannot be conducted along with the Lok Sabha election. “This clause will be open to question as violating and offending the basic structure of the Constitution on the ground of being arbitrary and offending Article 14 of the Constitution,” he noted in his written submission, which he also explained at Tuesday’s (August 19, 2025) meeting.

He also articulated that this clause gives powers to the ECI and the government beyond what was envisaged in Article 356 of the Constitution. “Postponement of elections by the ECI may result in indirect President’s Rule – in other words, the Union Government taking over the reins of the State Government. This will be questionable judicially, as violating the federal structure envisaged by the Constitution,” Justice Khanna noted.

Justice Khanna said the Bill does not meet the basic objective of reducing policy paralysis induced by the differing election cycles in various States and the Lok Sabha. He was answering questions from the members. As per sources, he argued that the Model Code of Conduct will come into play whenever there are elections to the State Legislative Assemblies on premature dissolution; therefore, it defeats the purpose for which the legislation has been mooted. 

Mr. Chaudhary, the panel chairperson, told The Hindu that the committee will now be meeting economists to evaluate the financial implications of the proposed legislation. The government has argued that the legislation will significantly reduce expenditure.