- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Almost a month after Indian prime minister slammed the culture of doling out freebies by political parties during the elections, the country’s Supreme Court spoke out on the matter saying the promise and distribution of freebies by the parties during elections is “a serious issue” as the economy was losing money, Bar and Bench, an online portal for Indian legal news, reported.
The top court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by a lawyer named Ashwini Upadhyay seeking a ban on parties promising ‘freebies’ to lure voters ahead of polls. The plea sought measures to be taken to regulate poll manifesto and make the parties accountable for the promises they make in it.
“Nobody says it is not a issue. It is a serious issue. Those who are getting they want it and ours is a welfare state. Some may say that they are paying taxes and it has to be used for developmental process. So its a serious issue. So both side has to be heard by committee,” Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, who is retiring this month, was quoted as saying by the portal.
Ramana also said that India was a nation “where there is poverty and the central government also has plans to feed hungry”, adding that the economy was losing money and that “people’s welfare has to be balanced.”
The Aam Aadmi Party, which rules two Indian states of Delhi and Punjab, objected to the plea saying schemes for socioeconomic welfare of the disadvantaged masses could not be called ‘freebies’”.
It also accused Upadhyay — who it said has “strong links” to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party — of “furthering a particular political agenda”.
