The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear a petition filed by Senior Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to either de-register or seize the election symbol of the political parties, which promise or distribute freebies from public fund before elections, alleging that the practice unduly influenced the voters.
Earlier on July 26, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, had directed the Centre to find out from the Finance Commission whether the revenue allocation to states could be regulated by taking into account the money spent on “unnecessary freebies” announced by political parties for the electorate, just before the polls.
The Central government was given time till August 3 to file a report in this regard.
The top court of the country had observed that this practice of freebies by political parties needs to be controlled.
The ECI had earlier submitted an affidavit before the Court, stating that it has no power to regulate the freebies and that it was up to the voters to decide whether the freebies were financially viable.