Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Aug 26: In view of the complexity of the situation, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the appeal against freebies made by political parties prior to elections must be heard by a three-judge bench.
A bench including Justices Hima Kohli, CT Ravikumar, and outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana suggested that the 2013 ruling in Subramaniam Balaji v. Govt. of Tamil Nadu may need to be reexamined.
“We direct listing of the case before a three judge bench as formulated by the CJI. This is looking at the complexity of the case and a need to reconsider the Subramaniam Balaji judgment,” the Court said in its order.
BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay filed a public interest litigation (PIL) asking the Central Government and the Election Commission to take action to regulate election manifestos of political parties and to hold parties accountable for pledges made in such manifestos.
Upadhyay’s argument was against the practise of political parties providing or promised freebies to voters. Until now, a number of political parties and figures have rejected the request.
According to the Aam Aadmi Party, the BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay’s petition is a ‘political interest litigation.’
Congress leader Dr. Jaya Thakur has said that it is the responsibility of the government to improve the lot of the less fortunate members of society by formulating policies and providing funding for such initiatives.
The Supreme Court has already expressed disapproval of the remarks made on television debates about the top court hearing the issue on freebies by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party official.
Palanivel Thiagarajan, the finance minister for Tamil Nadu, stated on television that there is no constitutional justification for courts to intervene in matters of economic policy.
