The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on Thursday, a public interest plea against the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections.
“This is important. We will keep this on board tomorrow,” said Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud heading a bench also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra after a mentioning by the PIL petitioner’s lawyer for an early hearing of the matter.
The PIL states that there should be a total ban on the promise of populist measures to influence the voters and gain votes as such promises violate the Constitution, and the Election Commission should take suitable deterrent measures to curb such practices.
The top court is already seized of a batch of pleas against freebies promised by political parties. The court had earlier said that the issue of freebies promised by the political parties during election campaigns requires extensive debate, and referred the case to a three-judge bench.
One of the pleas filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay sought direction to Election Commission of India to seize election symbols and deregister political parties that promised to distribute irrational freebies from public funds.
The plea had claimed that political parties arbitrarily promise irrational freebies for wrongful gain and to lure voters in their favour is analogous to bribery and undue influences.
The PIL petitioner has said that promise or distribution of irrational freebies from public funds before elections could unduly influence the voters, shake the roots of a free and fair election, and disturb the level playing field, besides vitiating the purity of the election process.
“This unethical practice is just like giving bribes to the electorate at the cost of the exchequer to stay in power and must be avoided to preserve democratic principles and practices,” it said.