In the matter of declaration of free gifts during elections, on Wednesday, 3 August, the Supreme Court said that NITI Aayog, Finance Commission, Government of India, opposition parties, Reserve Bank and all stakeholders should together consider the advantages and disadvantages of free announcements and make suggestions because these free announcements have a huge impact on the economy.
The Central Government in principle supported the petition in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the declaration of freebies by political parties.
Significantly, the hearing on the petition seeking a stay on the declaration of freebies is going on in the Supreme Court for the last several days.
The central government said that such an announcement puts a burden on the economy. This is disastrous for the economy.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the central government, said populist announcements distort the voter's ability to take decisions.
Tushar Mehta said that due to this we are moving towards economic disaster.
Tushar Mehta suggested that the Election Commission of India (ECI) should put its mind to the matter and they may reconsider.
During the hearing on August 3, the EC's counsel said that its hands are tied by the apex court's decision on freebies.
A lawyer involved in the matter suggested whether there is a model manifesto, in which political parties say that no harm is going to happen
A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said that all these are mere formalities. Tushar Mehta reiterated that we are heading towards an economic disaster.
The Chief Justice said that this is a serious issue and the Election Commission and the Central Government cannot say that they cannot do anything in this matter.
In the last hearing, the Supreme Court had said that political parties should check irrational promises of providing free facilities out of public money in elections.
CJI NV Ramana had also sought the opinion of senior advocate Kapil Sibal in the matter of providing free facilities by political parties during the election campaign.
On that Kapil Sibal had said that it is a serious issue, but it is difficult to control politically in this matter.
When the Finance Commission makes allocations to different states, it can take into account the state's debt and free facilities.
The Finance Commission is the appropriate department to deal with this matter. We can take the help of the commission to deal with this problem.