Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 25: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Centre and Election Commission of India seeking direction to seize election symbols and deregister political parties that promised to distribute irrational freebies from public funds.
The court was hearing a petition seeking to put a stop to political parties’ senseless gifts given on the eve of elections, which would place a large financial load on states’ excheques, which are already heavily in debt.
CJI NV Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli pointed to a previous SC ruling that sneered at freebies while claiming that they were not corrupt electoral practices, and asked the Centre and the EC what steps they plan to take to regulate freebies given during electioneering.
“It is a serious issue and freebies budget goes beyond regular budget. Even though it is not a corrupt practice but it creates a uneven playing field,” the CJI remarked.
The Bench also pointed out how the petitioner had selectively named parties and States in the petition.
