Supreme Court tells Election Commission to consider suggestions for curbing election expenditures

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to look into the suggestions by a petitioner for taking measures to curb excessive election expenditures.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria noted the point raised by petitioner Prabhakar Deshpande was very interesting, but court was not inclined as it fell in domain of the poll panel.

"It is for the Election Commission to lay down some guidelines. The petitioner has sought a comprehensive plan of action to curb excess election expenditure," the bench said.

The court noted the plea sought the EC to take timely and effective action to prevent electoral malpractices and unchecked spending during election campaigns.

The petitioner claimed during 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the expenses were 100 times more than the caps imposed by the EC

He sought a direction to the EC to re-examine the existing cap on election expenses, claiming that the present limits have lost credibility and effectiveness in ensuring free and fair elections, thereby undermining democratic reforms.

Senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, for the EC, submitted, expenditure observers are deployed during elections and dedicated accounting teams are constituted to track expenses incurred by candidates and political parties.

Disposing of the plea, the court noted though the statutory authority has already put in place an institutional mechanism to oversee election expenditure, however, the EC should consider the independent suggestions for strengthening the existing framework.