Assembly Elections 2022: The court made the observations while hearing a PIL seeking a direction to seize the election symbol and de-register the political party that promises or distributes irrational freebies from public funds before elections.
New Delhi: Coming down heavily on the Election Commission and the Centre, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asserted that the promise of freebies before assembly elections is a ‘serious issue’. The court made the observations while hearing a PIL seeking a direction to seize the election symbol and de-register the political party that promises or distributes irrational freebies from public funds before elections.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli sought the response in four weeks on the PIL filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay. “I want to know how to control this legally. Can this be done during these elections? It has to be for the next election. It’s a serious issue. The freebies budget goes beyond the regular budget”, India Today quoted CJI NV Ramana as saying.
“There should be a total ban on such populist measures to gain undue political favour from voters as they violate the Constitution and the ECI should take suitable deterrent measures”, the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay said.
