Supreme Court agrees to hear PIL against poll freebies promises by political parties
Advocate-petitioner Ashwini Updhyaya told the bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that notices regarding her PIL had been sent to the Center and the Election Commission in 2022 and urged them to list the matter soon.
“Except the Sun and the Moon, everything is promised to the voters by political parties during elections and this amounts to the practice of corruption,” the lawyer said. he said.
“This is an important issue. Please remind us and mention it at the end. We will list it in March,” the CJI said.
On January 25, 2022, a bench headed by the then Chief Justice NV Ramana had sought responses from the center and the Election Commission on the PIL seeking directions to seize the symbol or de-register a political party that promises or distributes “unconscionable freebies” before the polls.
The board called it a “serious problem” and said that sometimes “the free budget goes beyond the regular budget.”
The plea called on the court to declare that the promise of “irrational freebies” of public funds before the elections unduly influenced voters, distorted the level playing field and corrupted the purity of the poll process. In the petition submitted through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, an alternative has been requested to direct the Center to enact a law in this regard.
“The petitioner submits that the recent trend of political parties to influence voters by offering free gifts in view of elections is not only the greatest threat to the survival of democratic values but also undermines the spirit of the Constitution,” the plea said.
“This unethical practice is like bribing voters at the expense of the exchequer in order to remain in power and should be avoided in order to protect democratic principles and practices,” the statement said.
The petition also sought a direction from the ECI to insert an additional condition that “a political party shall not promise/distribute unreasonable freebies from public funds before the election” in the relevant paragraphs of the Electoral Symbols (Reservation and Allocation) Order, 1968, which deals with the conditions for recognition as a state party.
The petitioner requested the high court to declare that the promise or distribution of private goods or services from public funds that are not in the public interest before elections violates several articles of the Constitution, including Article 14 (equality before law).
In the defense, references were made to the promises made by some political parties before the Assembly elections in some states.
It was stated that the mainstay of democracy is the election process, and the distribution of money and the promise of free bonuses have reached alarming levels, with the elections being canceled several times.
“The plaintiff alleges that irrational promises of freebies made arbitrarily violate the mandate of the ECI regarding free and fair elections and that the distribution of private goods-services from public funds not intended for public purposes clearly violates Articles 14, 162, 266(3) and 282 of the Constitution.”
