NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to urgently list a petition filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking to direct the ECI to restrain political parties from disturbing freebies during elections.
Against the backdrop of upcoming elections in the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, Upadhyay urged the bench of CJI UU Lalit and Justice Hemant Gupta to list the matter.
“There are elections in Gujarat and they’re making promises of irrational freebies,” Upadhyay submitted.
Turning down Upadhyay’s plea, CJI said, “We’ll make a note. They are not matters which are urgent. Send them to my chambers.”
On August 26, a bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar had asked the three-judge bench to consider whether its 2013 judgment which held that promises of freebies is not an electoral offense or corrupt practice needs to be overruled or not. The 2013 judgement had held that State distributing freebies in the form of colour TVs, laptops, mixer-grinders etc. to eligible and deserving persons was directly related to directive principles of the State Policy.
The Court had also opined that there were some issues that required an extensive hearing before passing any concrete orders. The issues which were flagged by the bench related to the scope of judicial intervention with respect to the ban of freebies and whether the appointment of an expert commission to put forth suggestions on the issue would serve any purpose.
“Freebies may create a situation wherein the State Government cannot provide basic amenities due to lack of funds and the State is pushed towards imminent bankruptcy. In the same breath, we should remember that such freebies are extended utilizing taxpayers' money only for increasing the popularity of the party and electoral prospects,” the bench said.