Pursuant to a PIL, Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments
from political parties / Central Government / Election Commission etc., in
respect of political parties promising “ Freebies “ in their Poll
Manifestos
SC has observed that :
# No political
party wants a BAN on making such
promises
# Political
parties are blatantly flouting “ Model Code of Conduct “
/ ignoring past
observations of SC
# Neither SC nor
EC have the power to make a LAW
in this regard
# Political
parties are unlikely to reach any CONSENSUS for voluntary
self-
regulation ( public knows too well )
# By making financially
unsustainable promises, Political parties are leading the
country into bankruptcy
=========================================
MY SUGGESTION :
Dear Shri Narendrabhai,
You recently raked up this issue by your public
reference to “ Revadi Culture “
I have no doubt that you are keeping a close watch on
the observations /
arguments / views ( listed below ), expressed during PIL
hearings
In light of these, if you
are serious about bringing an end to this “ revadi culture “,
the only option left
to you is to , introduce yourself , a BILL in the next session of
the Lok
Sabha, as ( conceptually ) outlined below :
( 1
) Preamble
We, the people of India , declare that our votes are
not for sale and we want to
put a stop to Political Parties trying to bribe us
by offering freebies in their election
manifestos
( 2
) Name of the Act
“ Prevention of Irresponsible Promises by Political
Parties Act “ ( PIPPPA )
( 3
) Objective
Ensure that the Election Manifestos do not contain any
promise of freebies
( 4
) Punishment for
breaking Law
Depending upon the “ Degree
/ Extent “ of the violation , EC would :
# Prevent the concerned party from contesting the
election to which the
manifesto pertains
# Stop the concerned party from accepting any
donations through Electoral
Bonds or even directly
# Deregister / derecognize the concerned party
# Declare the concerned party
as “ illegal “ and seize all of its movable
/ non-
movable assets
( 5
) Examples of typical
Freebies ( not comprehensive / Items to be added or
deleted )
Cash / Depositing
money in voter's bank account / Liquor Bottles / LPG Cylinders /
Free Rice /
Food Packets / Payments of Electricity - Water Bills / Mass Feasts /
Screening
of films / Laptops / Tablets / Bicycles / Mangal Sutras / Gold Coins /
Buffalos
/ Colour TV / Mixer – Grinder / Unemployment Allowance / Waiver of
loans / Free
Houses / Free Education / Health Care / Roti - Kapada -
Makaan /
Transport / Smartphones
I suggest that, while deciding
whether an item of Poll Promise, constitutes a
FREEBIE or not, the
Parliamentary Select Committee apply the following criteria :
( a )
Item must not be linked to
Religion – Caste – Creed – Beliefs etc
( b ) If the
Manifesto pertains to Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha Elections, then the
item must not
refer to any specific State – Region but should be applicable
to citizens of ALL States
( c ) Preferably, the benefits accruing from any
particular item, must be long-
lasting and should not be for a short duration
( d ) As far as possible, item should be in the
nature of “ Creation of an Asset “
which can be used by any citizen from any part of India . These could be
Infrastructure Projects ( Hospitals–Highways–Ports etc )
( e )
An item of Manifesto can be linked to ( based on ) :
#
Economic Status ( eg; Poor people )
#
Age ( eg : Children
suffering from mal-nutrition )
#
Health ( eg : People
suffering from certain illnesses /
pandemics )
#
Gendre ( eg : Women )
( 6 ) Process
Political Parties must publish their manifestos on,
# their own
websites
# the website of
Election Commission ( in prescribed FORMAT )
# At least 4
major National News Papers ( local language news-papers for State /
Municipal
elections )
This should be done at least 6 months before the
planned elections ( State or
Central ). Of course, this provision would require
EC to publish a “ TENTATIVE
SCHEDULE of ELECTIONS “
( 7
) Coverage
PIPPPA would cover Lok-Sabha / Rajya Sabha / States /
Municipal Elections
( 8
) Accountability
Against each and every item ( in Poll Manifesto ),
there must be mention of :
# Amount of
Money / Funds required ( One-time CAPITAL amount for Infra
Projects / Recurring
Annual revenue expenditure for WELFARE measures for 5
years )
# How the Party
proposes to “ finance “ ( eg: by raising existing taxes / levying
NEW taxes /
Borrowing etc )
With regards,
[ A
]…..
Views of Supreme Court
Freebies
can drive a state to bankruptcy just to further a political party’s electoral prospects, the
Supreme Court noted on Friday as it called for an “extensive” hearing by a
three-judge bench to adjudicate the preliminary issues surrounding freebies and
electoral promises.
“Freebies may create a situation wherein the state government cannot
provide basic amenities due to lack of funds and the State is pushed towards imminent bankruptcy.
In the same breath, we should remember that such freebies are extended
utilizing tax
payers’ money only for increasing the popularity of the party and electoral
prospects,” said the bench, which also included justices Hima Kohli and CT
Ravikumar.
Freebies will continue to destroy the economy unless there is a conscious decision
taken by all political parties to stop such hand-outs, the Supreme Court had
observed during the Wednesday hearing
On Tuesday, the court had remarked that it wants to facilitate a dialogue in Parliament, which could
consider framing a law…..the court cannot pass any
direction on electoral promises, and that the idea is to help Parliament with a
report by the proposed panel.
Chief Justice Ramana said the court’s primary
concern is that largesse dressed as freebies should not bleed the national economy dry
and put more and more burden on the taxpayer. The Chief Justice explained that the purpose
behind the proposed formation of a committee was to collect the “ experience
and wisdom” of the ordinary citizen,
the rural poor, and place the study before the Parliament as a background to
debate on a law on freebies.
“But we find that in this issue, all political
parties are on one side… Everybody wants freebies, everybody! That was exactly
why we wanted a neutral body to look into the issue,” Chief Justice Ramana
explained.
But Chief Justice
Ramana said freebies cannot be classified into such “water-tight compartments”.
What may seem like freebies to the urban population may provide for the welfare of the rural poor.
“Until and unless
there is a process or vision among political parties that ‘we have to stop somewhere’,
these types of freebies, which will destroy
the economy, will continue.
Nothing can happen
by way of legislation, by way of Model Code of Conduct, by way of our orders.
It will be unmanageable… If we pass an order, a mandamus, that from tomorrow
onwards no political party should make these promises, nobody will care…
So, that is why
there must be a debate. The issue is serious, no doubt about it. Why can't the
Government of India call for a meeting of all political parties and ask for their
views on how to go ahead?” Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, heading a
three-judge Bench, asked.
[ B
]…… Views of Election Commission
(
source:Election Commission backs Supreme Court
on poll freebies panel but refuses to be on it
/ 11
Aug 2022 )
“It
may not be appropriate for the Commission, being the constitutional authority,
to offer to be part of the expert committee, especially if there are
representations from ministries or government bodies, in the expert committee
Further
there are continuous elections in the country, and any opinion / view / comment
, during deliberations in a multi – member body might, in the event of being
publicized , amount to pre-decide the issue and disturb the level playing field “, the EC said in an
affidavit
The
EC pointed out that it was the SC in
its 2013 judgment which
had held that promises made by the political parties and candidates in
their manifestos, could neither be construed as a corrupt practise under the
Representation of People Act nor violation of level playing field ( Article 14
)
To
rub it in, the EC said in the 2013 verdict in ‘S Subramaniam Balaji vs Tamil
Nadu case, the SC had
declined to interfere in the schemes under which goods such as Gold, TVs, Laptops,
Mixer-Grinders, Electric Fans , in addition to the distribution of solar
powered Green Houses and milch animals and goats, to the targeted beneficiaries
, were to be done free of cost , by the government
SC
had held that distribution of such goods was directly related to Directive
Principles of State policy and that whether incurring expenditure on the same
and to what extent, was not to be determined by the Court but to be decided and
debated in the legislature.
EC
said in its previous affidavit, it had only pointed out the limitations on its
part because of the SC judgement but was not portrayed by the SC during
hearing, in a light that made the institution appear non-serious in tackling
the menace of offering freebies
===================================================
[ C
]…..
Views of Central
Government
“ If a promise has been made to the people at the time
of the election, you are looking at a quid pro quo. You should, as a
responsible party, assume after you come to power, make a provision in the budget for it “
"The
debate is not about what constitutes a freebie, but if you have given a promise, provision for
it," she added.
( Burden
of pre-poll promises must be borne via budgetary provisions: FM Nirmala
Sitharaman / 27 Aug 2022 )
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre,
however submitted that the court cannot remain a “mute spectator” to outlandish promises of free sarees,
TVs, electricity or water.
“What if the parties make false promises burdening the finances in
such a way that they destroy the national economy?” Mr. Mehta asked.
[ D
]
….. Views of the
Petitioners
Senior advocate
Vijay Hansaria, for petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, said, “Political parties
cannot say ‘who is the Supreme Court’ when freebies they offer may disturb the fiscal discipline of the country.”
Senior advocate
Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the petitioner, said “freebies” would be “easier to define by what they
are not”.
He said free
education, healthcare, drinking water, sanitation, electricity, etc., were
statutory obligations of States and part of people’s rights under Article 21.
On the other hand,
“freebies” like mixers, TVs, grinders, scooters, cash, etc., do not serve any public purpose and cater
to only sections [of the
electorate].
Freebies could be
identified for benefits which were not extended to address a crisis or an
emergency.
Senior advocate
Vikas Singh, also for the petitioner, said the petition was focussed on
pre-election promises of irrational
freebies.
The main contention
was that a political party making such a “wild” offer should also say where it would get the money from.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan said three types of
freebies were dangerous. Those which are discriminatory
in nature, those which are against public policy and those rolled out
immediately, say six months, before elections
and disturb the level playing field.
“Mr. Bhushan says promises should not be made six
months before elections. Then parties will make it nine months before polls.
So, should there be a standstill in governance in view of an impending
election? Today, people are not so gullible with literacy anywhere between 60%
to 90%... Let us not assume that everybody can fool the public every time,” Mr.
Singhvi said.
Sources :
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/why-cant-govt-call-all-party-meeting-to-discuss-freebies-sc-asks-centre/article65805288.ece
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/why-cant-centre-form-panel-to-study-impact-of-freebies-asks-sc/articleshow/93761838.cms?from=mdr
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-not-an-all-party-meet-on-freebies-supreme-court-tells-centre/articleshow/93762786.cms
https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/why-not-call-an-all-party-meeting-to-hear-freebies-issue-sc-asks-centre-122082401386_1.html
https://www.thehansindia.com/hans/opinion/news-analysis/sops-for-votes-pushing-nation-to-brink-726760
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jalandhar/open-house-should-sops-or-good-governance-be-a-priority-for-political-parties-to-seek-votes-326129
Related
Readings ( 26 ) :
2013 ( 6 ) :
Ø BJP
Poll Manifesto ……………………………………………………[ 19 Oct 2013 ]
Ø Selling
Dreams ?.............................................. [ 04 Nov 2013 ]
2014 ( 7 ) :
Ø Robinhood
of Delhi ?............................................ [ 01 Jan 2014 ]
Ø Selling
Rainbows ?............................................... [ 22 Jan 2014 ]
Ø If
/ Then…………………………………………………………………………[ 06 Apr 2014 ]
Ø Bribing
The Voters……………………………………………………….. [ 28 Apr 2014 ]
Ø What
Are the Chances ?..........................................[ 18 May 2014 ]
2016 ( 2 ) :
Ø Advantage
, Incumbent ?....................................... [ 05 Sept 2016 ]
2017 ( 5 ) :
2018
( 2 ) :
2019 ( 1 ) :
2020 ( 1 ) :
2022 ( 2 ) :
Ø Ignoramus
? Gullible ? ……………………………………………………..[ 09 Apr 2022 ]
