Supreme Court Issues Notice on PIL to Curb Pre‑Election Freebies

Overview

• The Supreme Court, which issued notices on Monday, called on the Centre, the Election Commission, and the national auditor to respond to a plea targeting pre‑election giveaways.
• The bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant said the case will be heard with other pending petitions on the same question.
• The petition by advocate Narendra Goswami asks the court to treat state‑funded promises or distributions before voting as bribery under Section 123(1) of the Representation of the People Act.
• It also seeks mandatory Fiscal Impact Statements for party promises, enforcement by the Election Commission including possible de‑recognition for violations, and performance audits by the CAG to test the schemes’ public purpose under Article 282.
• The plea urges the court to revisit its 2013 S. Subramaniam Balaji ruling on giveaways as policy, and the matter joins an earlier petition by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay on poll‑time freebies.