On Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party moved the Apex Court to intervene in a plea seeking regulation of freebies.
AAP told the Court that petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, linked to BJP, wants to oppose a particular 'socialist & welfarist agenda' practised by it that helps downtrodden & poor.
"Petitioner’s prayer to prohibit political parties from promising or making any claims about the manner in which they plan to meet this socialist & welfarist mandate of the Constitution is not just untenable but also malafide," it added.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party also said that by removing such socialist & welfarist agenda from electoral discourse, the petitioner seeks to advance interests of a different, more parochial kind of politics reliant on caste & communal appeals instead of on appeals to people’s welfare.
The Party further alleged in Court that it had the fundamental right to free speech under Article 19 of the Constitution, which included election speeches & promises for the upliftment of the poor by providing night shelters, free electricity, free education & free healthcare facilities.
Stressing its fundamental right to announce 'freebies' which it labelled as social & welfarist measures, the AAP said, "Prima facie, any restriction on electoral speech of the kind prayed for by Petitioner is not justified on any of the grounds."
The Kejriwal-led party further argued in court that the petitioner, despite claiming to be concerned about the fiscal deficit, ignores vast fiscal losses to the exchequer caused by tax rebates, subsidies & other such ‘freebies’ routinely provided to big industries & businesses by the Centre & State Govts.
Supreme Court: Centre, Niti Aayog and others to brainstorm on "serious issue" of freebies during polls
On Upadhyay's Public Interest Litigation, the Supreme Court had said that some help to the poor is needed but asked to what extent & wanted to know the impact of freebies on the taxpayers & national economy.
A bench comprising CJI N V Ramana & Justice Krishna Murari & Justice Hima Kohli on Aug 3 hinted at ordering setting up a mechanism for suggesting measures to the Govt to deal with the issue.
The bench said that "The Election Commission & the government cannot say that we cannot do anything about this. They have to consider the issue & give suggestions".
The Centre, through solicitor general Tushar Mehta, supported the PIL & said, "The freebies distribution inevitably leads to future economic disaster & the voters also cannot exercise their right to choose as an informed, wise decision.”
"We are of the considered opinion that all the stakeholder, beneficiaries... & the government & organisations like Niti Aayog, Finance Commission, RBI & the opposition parties have to be involved in the process of brainstorming & giving some constructive suggestions on these issues.
"We direct all the parties to make suggestions about the composition of such a body to enable us to pass an order for constitution of the body so that they can make suggestions," the bench said in its order.
The PIL opposes the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections & seeks the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze their election symbols & cancel their registration.
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(With input from news agency language)
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