A petition calling for limitations on ‘freebies’ given out by political parties was sent to a three-judge bench by the Supreme Court on Friday.
Ashwini Upadhyay, head of Bharatiya Janata Party, filed a public interest lawsuit. He asked the court to instruct the Election Commission to forbid political parties from promising specific social welfare benefits that he described as freebies.
“The issues raised by parties require an extensive hearing,” Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said. “Certain preliminary hearings need to be determined, such as the scope of judicial intervention, whether the appointment of the expert body by court serves any purpose.”
According to the outgoing Chief Justice, some petitioners have questioned SC’s ruling in the Subramanian Balaji case. It stated that such schemes would not constitute corrupt practices.
“Looking at the complexity of issues and the prayer to overrule Subramaniam Balaji, we refer the matters to a three-judge bench,” the bench stated.
The petition will be posted after four weeks, according to Supreme Court.
According to a court tradition, Chief Justice Ramana shared a bench with his successor UU Lalit. On the webcast portal of the National Informatics Centre, the proceedings were streamed live.
According to Bar and Bench, the Supreme Court’s proceedings are being webcast live for the first time in its 71-year history.
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