Former SC, HC judges back ‘One Nation One Election’

Prayagraj. Holding that ‘One Nation One ' is an important decision, Justice Krishna Murari, a former judge of the Supreme Court, said that this concept can be implemented through talks, as "our democracy stands on the foundation of dialogue".
Justice Murari was speaking as chief guest at a seminar on ‘One Nation One Election' (ONOE) which was organized by the Uttar Pradesh Advocate Forum at Allahabad Medical Association (AMA) hall here on Wednesday.
Pointing out shortcomings of holding separate elections, he said that it "keeps the country always in the election mode and due to that the national resources are unnecessarily exploited".
"This is the reason that the demand for ‘One Nation One Election' has become strong in the country," he added.
Justice Murari further said that huge resources are required for conducting the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. These include human resources, security resources and financial resources, he said, adding that services of teachers are sought in getting conducted the elections due to which educational work is disrupted and govts also face hindrance in taking policy decisions. "One Nation One Election' will enable govts to take policy decisions on priority. But for this all political parties will have to cooperate," he added.
Meanwhile, Justice Shambhunath Srivastava, a retired judge of Allahabad High Court, who was presiding over the seminar, said: ‘One Nation One Election' is the need of the hour as it would save resources which are used in conducting elections in the country. It is high time we support this initiative and also hold a ‘One Nation One Election' Support Day."
President of the Uttar Pradesh Advocate Forum and former advocate-general and senior advocate Raghavendra Singh said that earlier all elections were held simultaneously. But in 1969 the Lok Sabha was dissolved and after that the sequence of simultaneous elections was disrupted. In 1983, for the first time, the Election Commission advocated for simultaneous elections. After 2014, efforts were initiated on war-footing and in 2023 a committee was formed under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind.
The committee invited suggestions from public and after holding several meetings in this regard, presented its report, he added.
General secretary of the UP Advocate Forum and former president of Uttar Pradesh Bar Council Akhilesh Kumar Awasthi proposed the vote of thanks. The seminar was conducted by former general secretary of Adhivakta Parishad, UP. Sheetla Prasad Gaur.
Retired high court judges, including Justice Rahul Chaturvedi, Justice Vijay Lakshmi, Justice Ranvijay Singh and Justice Ashok Kumar and additional solicitor-general Shashi Prakash Singh, High Court Bar Association president Anil Tiwari, assistant solicitor-general Gyan Prakash, chief standing counsel Kunal Ravi Singh, J N Maurya, Vijay Shankar Mishra, Manish Dwivedi and others attended the seminar.