Election freebies: Justice DY Chandrachud Bench to hear the matter

The Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud will now be hearing the case before the Supreme Court on freebies promised by political parties before the elections.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, who was hearing the matter in the case so far has officially handed the order for Juatice DY Chandrachud to take the matter further.  

During the hearing today, in continuation with previous suggestions for the formation of a committee to deliberate on the issue, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh suggested  a retired Supreme Court judge should  head the committee which decides on this matter  like that under Justice Lodha…”

The Solicitor General of India  Tushar Mehta replied,

“I think a Constitutional body should head the committee to deliberate.”

The CJI NV Ramana who was part of the hearing sad that “Why doesn’t the Government of India form a committee to study this issue?”

The Solicitor General said that the Central government will extend every possible help in the case and that the committee can submit a report on the issue in three months.

On behalf of the Election Commission Advocate Arvind Datar questioned what can be defined as a freebie?

“If something is there in manifesto, can it be called a freebie? There is enough material available to judge the economic impact of freebies.”

As it was a pertinent question , CJI Ramana went on to observe,

“Who is in opposition today can come into power tomorrow and they will have to manage this. So things like freebies etc which can destroy the economy. It has to be looked at and I just cannot pass a mandamus. Thus, there needs to be a debate.”

Vikas Singh presented in court then submitted a Supreme Court’s 2013 judgment of Subramanian Balaji Vs Govt of Tamil to be reconsidered. In that judgment, the Court had held that promises made by political parties in the election manifesto would not amount to ‘corrupt practices’ as per Section 123 of the Representation of People Act.

The Order in the above also said that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) cannot dictate how governments spend their money, and that the Court cannot make guidelines or laws on what election promises should be allowed.

Listening to what Vikas Singh had to say, the CJI Ramana said,“I will be constituting a three judge bench to hear this led by Justice DY Chandrachud.”