Panel postpones proposed Supreme Court visit over simultaneous-polls Bills
A parliamentary committee examining legislation for simultaneous elections has postponed a planned October 6 visit to the Supreme Court. Chairman P.P. Chaudhary cited scheduling difficulties, while Opposition members and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal had objected that discussions with sitting judges could blur the separation between Parliament’s law-making role and the judiciary’s review function.
A parliamentary committee examining Bills on simultaneous elections has postponed a proposed October 6 visit to the Supreme Court amid objections from Opposition members over the separation of powers. Joint Committee chairman P.P. Chaudhary said on Thursday that the visit had been put off because the dates of committee members did not match.
He also cited other commitments. The proposed programme reportedly included an informal interaction with the Chief Justice of India and other judges. At least one Opposition member is understood to have written to Chaudhary seeking cancellation of the visit.
The member argued that discussing the constitutional validity or merits of proposed legislation with sitting judges could raise concerns about institutional independence and the separation of powers. The argument was that Parliament should consider and enact laws, while the judiciary should determine their validity if they are later challenged. Independent Rajya Sabha member and senior advocate Kapil Sibal raised similar objections publicly.
He described the proposed visit as unconstitutional and said he had not encountered a parliamentary panel holding an interaction with Supreme Court judges about legislation that might later come before the court. Sibal said a circulated programme listed a local study visit to the Supreme Court, including an informal discussion on simultaneous polls. The committee chairman did not attribute the postponement to the objections and instead cited scheduling reasons.
The committee is examining the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The measures seek to establish a framework for holding Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly elections at the same time. Both Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2024 and later referred to the joint committee.
The source material does not provide a new date for the proposed court visit or indicate whether the committee plans to hold another interaction with judges.
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