Supreme Court judges call off JPC interaction over possible review of ONOE Bills

New Delhi: Supreme Court judges have conveyed that they are not in favour of an informal interaction with the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on simultaneous polls, as the proposed constitutional amendments could later come before the court for judicial review, amidst criticism from former Union Law Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal.

The JPC was scheduled to meet the Chief Justice of India and other Supreme Court judges on October 6 to discuss the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

A communication to the Lok Sabha Secretariat said the "proposal for an informal discussion" with the CJI and other judges "was discussed among the senior judges". They were of the opinion that "as the proposed amendment might become a subject matter of Judicial Review before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, it may not be expedient or desirable to discuss the issue on the administrative side."


"The proposed meeting is accordingly cancelled," the communication said.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat subsequently sent a circular to all Lok Sabha members informing them that the scheduled "local study visit" of the JPC to the Supreme Court on October 6 had been cancelled.

Earlier in the day Samajwadi Party-backed independent Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, in a press conference, termed the proposed interaction "unconstitutional" and contrary to the separation of powers. He said the move was unprecedented in his legal career, arguing that it would involve a parliamentary panel discussing the merits of legislation with judges before whom the same law could subsequently be challenged.

The JPC has several lawyers among its members, including chairperson PP Chaudhary, Congress MP Manish Tewari, DMK MP P Wilson and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee.

However, parliamentary panels have held informal interactions with Supreme Court judges in the past. In March 2023, the parliamentary panel on law and justice, then headed by BJP MP Sushil Modi, visited the Supreme Court and informally interacted with then CJI DY Chandrachud and other judges on the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).

The same law panel had also held an informal interaction with then CJI NV Ramana when he was heading the Supreme Court.