The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the centre over political parties’ pledge to offer freebies to attract voters ahead of this year’s upcoming parliamentary elections in five states. The Supreme Court said the promise of freebies was a “serious issue”.
Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said: “I wonder how this can be legally controlled. Can this be done during these elections? It has to be done in the next election. This is a serious issue. The freebie budget exceeds the regular budget. “
The Supreme Court said it had earlier asked the Electoral Commission to develop guidelines to prevent this, but the pollster had just held a meeting with political parties to seek their views.
The Supreme Court is hearing a petition asking the Election Commission of India (ECI) to seize election symbols or write off a party that promised or distributed “irrational freebies” from public funds ahead of elections.
The court said the matter would be heard again in four weeks.
The petition said such populist measures should be banned across the board to gain undue political benefits from voters as they violate the constitution and that ECI should take appropriate deterrent measures.
The petition was filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and sought guidance from the centre to make laws in this regard.
Complete News Source : India Today
