Expressing its helplessness in the matter of giving free things by political parties to mislead the public during elections, the Election Commission has said that it cannot stop such promises. During the hearing in the Supreme Court, the Election Commission said that it is beyond the jurisdiction of the Commission to do so. Giving free gifts is a policy decision of political parties. If the court wants, it can prepare guidelines for the parties.
The Commission has said in the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court that the offer or distribution of free gifts before or after elections is a policy decision of the political party. The Election Commission also referred to the Supreme Court’s June 2013 decision of Subramaniam Balaji. In this, such promises were not considered wrong. The Election Commission said that it does not have the power to cancel the registration of political parties on such promises. People should think what will be the effect of such promises on the economy.
The petition was filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay on the promise of free gifts by political parties to woo voters. It states that voters are influenced by the announcement of free gifts at the time of elections by political parties. This puts a question mark on the election process. Such inducements have shaken the roots of the entire system. On the petition, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the Central Government and the Election Commission and sought their response. During that time, the Supreme Court had also expressed concern over the promise of free gifts by political parties.
The Supreme Court said in its remarks that this is a very serious matter. Such promises influence elections, but the scope of court intervention is very limited. The court said that it had asked the Election Commission to make guidelines on this, but the commission held only one meeting. What was the result of that, I do not know. The court also asked the petitioner why he had mentioned only two parties. Whereas almost all the parties are making such promises. The BJP leader’s lawyer Vikas Singh assured the court that he would include the names of all other parties in his petition.