The Delhi High Court.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday refused an urgent hearing on a plea by former judge Justice S N Dhingra to declare cash oriented schemes announced by major political parties AAP, BJP and Congress in Delhi Assembly polls as unconstitutional and against the spirit of free and fair elections.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Tushar Rao Gedela said the matter would be listed in due course, saying "Whatever impact these (schemes) were to have has already happened as today is the last date of campaign."
Advocates Siddhartha Borgohain and Harshvardhan Sharma mentioned the matter before the bench contending that urgent listing was imperative in view of voters influence being made through cash influence.
The counsel said these cash announcements were against the Constitutional spirit and the Supreme Court's mandate.
"The matter would be listed as per standing order. We are not commenting on the merits," the bench said.
The matter is likely to be listed on February 12, 2025.
The voting in Delhi Assembly is slated to take place on February 5 and counting of votes would take place on February 8.
In his PIL, Justice Dhingra, the retired judge of the Delhi High Court, sought a direction to the Election Commission conduct a thorough inquiry into the "corrupt practices" and illegal data collection by respondents political parties.
It claimed such promises in lieu of votes constituted corrupt practices under Section 123(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as those sought to unduly influence voters and amount to inducing the voters. Furthermore, the distribution of guarantee cards amounts to unauthorised election-related materials in violation of the Section 127A of the Act, the plea said.
The plea contended such acts also constituted an offense under Sections 170 and 171 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 related to bribery and undue influence during election.
The plea contended the data collection and possible misuse of voters' personal data without their explicit consent is a violation of their fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
In their campaign, the ruling AAP announced monthly payment of Rs 2100 to female voters if voted to power. Similarly BJP and Congress also proposed monthly payment of Rs 2,500 to women voters.
The proposed distribution of money to female voters would result in a financial burden of more than Rs 18,000 crore per annum, which would constitute over 23 per cent of Delhi’s total annual budget of Rs 76,000 crore approximately for the one fiscal year, the plea said.
Delhi Assembly Election 2025 | The first of two state assembly polls this year sees a three-way contest between AAP, Congress, and BJP in the nation's capital. AAP decided to contest the polls alone, causing rumours of a rift in I.N.D.I.A. BJP, meanwhile, is hoping the liquor excise policy scam and pollution in Delhi will give the saffron party an edge over AAP. Kejriwal, on the other hand, has different plans with his demand for reservations for Delhi Jats. Congress will also be looking to make its presence felt and has not held back from attacking its own alliance partner. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.