Tanisha Rana
Published on: 17 August, 2022 at 17:06 IST
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court, while considering a plea filed by Ashwini Upadhyay, asked whether political parties’ providing free healthcare, free education, and access to drinking water can be treated as giving freebies or whether such provisions by political parties are in fact the rights of citizens.
The plea has been filed by former BJP Spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay and other political parties like AAP, Congress, and DMK have sought to intervene in this matter.
The plea was heard by a bench comprised of Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana and Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Hima Kohli. The SC said that it cannot stop political parties from making promises of freebies to its citizens and that the issue of freebies is getting complicated.
The judges remarked that the Court will have to consider what exactly constitutes a “freebie” and Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana underscored that the issue pertaining to what constituted a freebie and what did not, was becoming complicated.
He stated that,
“We cannot prevent political parties from making promises. The question is what constitutes right promises! Can we describe the promise of free education as a freebie? The issues are getting increasingly complicated.”
Beneficial schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), which gave citizens a “dignified life”, were also highlighted by CJI NV Ramana.
At its previous hearing on August 11, 2022, the court stressed upon creating a balance between the state welfare and economic strain on the citizens.
The Election Commission of India also stated before the court that it is not the ECI’s mandate to regulate the election manifestos of ruling political parties. The Central Government also informed the court that freebies distort the decision-making process of voters.
The matter will now be heard on August 22, 2022, for further consideration.
