On Friday, a demand was made for early hearing on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court. In this petition, a demand has been made to ban freebies (announcement of free schemes before elections). It has been said in the petition that the election symbols of political parties making such promises should be confiscated or their registration should be cancelled.
In fact, as soon as elections come, many promises of free facilities are made by political parties. Many types of announcements are made like free electricity and water. These are called ‘freebies’. A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court demanding a ban on freebies.
Petitioner demanded early hearing
Petitioner and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay demanded an early hearing of the case before the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohan. He told that notices were issued to the Center and the Election Commission on his PIL in 2022 itself. He said that an urgent hearing on the petition was requested on February 5. Then the court had agreed to hold the hearing in March.
‘We have a lot of work…’
During this, CJI Surya Kant said that we will hear it when we have free time to talk about freebies. He said that we still have a lot of work. He said this matter can wait.
‘Both sides agreed to form a committee’
Petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay said that it is necessary to hear this matter. He said that a committee has to be formed and both the parties have agreed to form the committee, you just have to give approval. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal also supported Upadhyay’s demand for early hearing.
SC had sought answers from Center and Election Commission in 2022
Earlier, on January 25, 2022, a bench headed by the then CJI NV Ramana had sought response from the Center and the Election Commission on this PIL in which a direction was sought to confiscate or deregister the symbol of a political party giving or distributing free gifts before the elections. The bench had termed it a serious issue. The bench had said that sometimes the budget of freebies exceeds the regular budget.
What was said in the petition
Petitioner Ashwani Kumar Dubey urged the court to declare that the promise of freebies from public funds before elections unduly influences voters, disrupts fair competition and taints the sanctity of the election process. In the petition, a demand has been made to direct the Center to make a law in this regard.
The petitioner says that the recent trend of political parties to influence voters by giving them freebies with an eye on elections is not only the biggest threat to the existence of democratic values but also hurts the spirit of the Constitution. The petition said this unethical practice amounts to bribing voters at the expense of the public exchequer to remain in power and should be avoided to preserve democratic principles and practices.
Demand to give instructions to the Election Commission
The petition also sought a direction to the Election Commission to insert an additional condition in the relevant sections of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968, which deals with the conditions of recognition as a state party, that no political party shall promise/distribute free gifts from public funds before the elections. The petitioner said that promising or delivering private goods or services out of public money before elections, which are not for public purposes, violates several articles of the Constitution, including Article 14 (equality before law).
Mention of promises made before elections
The petition mentions the promises being made by some political parties before the assembly elections in some states. It says the foundation of democracy is the electoral process, and the distribution of money and promises of freebies have reached dangerous levels, leading to elections being canceled several times.
The petitioner says that the arbitrary promises of freebies violate the duty of the Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections and the distribution of private goods and services from public funds which are not for public purposes is a clear violation of Articles 14, 162, 266(3) and 282 of the Constitution.
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