‘Free raves are causing loss’, SC seeks response from Centre-EC on petition against freebies

Supreme Court: The Supreme Court has sought response from the Center and the Election Commission on a new petition against the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections. Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice J. P. and Justice Manoj Mishra, Shashank J, resident of Bengaluru. Notice issued to Government of India and Election Commission on Sridhara’s petition.

In the petition filed by advocate Srinivas, it has also been requested to direct the Election Commission to take effective steps to stop political parties from making promises of giving freebies before the elections. The petition states that ‘the unbridled promises of distributing free Rewadis place a huge and incalculable financial burden on the government exchequer; moreover, there is no mechanism to ensure that the pre-poll promises are fulfilled’.

Supreme Court also added other petitions

The Supreme Court has linked this matter to other petitions. Earlier, the court had agreed to hear petitions against the practice of political parties promising to distribute free rabri during elections. Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appearing for lawyer and public interest petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, had requested for an immediate hearing on the matter.

Upadhyay’s plea said that there should be a complete ban on populist measures to gain undue political favors from voters as they violate the Constitution and the Election Commission should take appropriate preventive measures. The petition also urges the court to declare that the promise of distributing unreasonable freebies from public funds before the elections unduly influences voters, hinders level playing field and taints the sanctity of the election process. Does. ‘The petitioner submits that the recent trend of political parties to influence voters by promising to distribute free newspapers in the run-up to the elections is the biggest threat not only to democratic values ​​but also to the spirit of the Constitution.

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