No political party is likely to want a debate in Parliament on freebies since all want it to continue, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday, even as the Union government termed such hand-outs the “road to an economic disaster” and urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to devise ways to deal with them.
No political party is likely to want a debate in Parliament on freebies since all want it to continue, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday, even as the Union government termed such hand-outs the “road to an economic disaster” and urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to devise ways to deal with them.
Suggesting a dialogue between all the stakeholders, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, lamented that neither ECI nor the central government has taken steps in last several years after the top court, in a 2013 judgment, flagged that the freebies shake the root of free and fair elections to a large degree.
“This is a serious issue. The Election Commission and the government cannot say that ‘we cannot do anything’… We are not looking only at elections but their effect on the entire economy of the country,” said the bench, which included justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.
To a suggestion that Parliament should have a discussion on the issue, the bench retorted: “Do you think Parliament will even debate this? Which political party will want a debate on freebies? There is no political party which will want to take it out. Every political party wants freebies to continue.”
