A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court which seeks directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to either de-register any political party or seize the election symbol of any political party that promises or distributes ‘irrational freebies’ from public funds before the elections, citing the declaration of political parties contesting in the elections of Uttar Pradesh & Punjab, if they voted into the power.
The petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, mentioned in his petition that a direction should be issued to the Central Government to enact a law in this regard & urged the court to declare that the promise of irrational freebies from public funds before elections influences the voters unduly, disturbs the level playing field & corrupts the purity of the poll process.
The petitioner prayed for the directions to declare that promise or distribution of irrational freebies from the elections violates Articles 14, 162, 266(3) & 282 of the Constitution & amounts to the “bribery and undue influence” under Sections 171B & 171C of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The petitioner also prayed for directions to Election Commission for inserting an additional condition in paras 6A, 6B, & 6C of the Election Symbols Order 1968 mandating that “political party shall not promise or distribute irrational freebies from the public fund before elections.”
