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Regulating freebies: EC asks SC to keep poll panel away from expert body 

Any comment during deliberation may pre-decide the issue and affect level playing field: EC
Last Updated 10 August 2022, 15:41 IST

The Election Commission on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to keep the constituional body away from the experts panel proposed to deliberate on the issue of validity of freebies generally announced by the political parties to lure the voters during the polls process.

"It may not be appropriate for the Commission being the constituional authority, to offer to be part of the expert committee especially if there are ministries and government bodies there," it said.

While hailing the decision to form the expert panel, the Commission said further "there are continous elections in the country and any opinion/view/comment during deliberations in a multi-member body might, in the event of being publicised, amount to pre-decide the issue and disturb the level playing field."

On August 3, the court had suggested for an expert bodies like Niti Ayog, Finance Commission, RBI, and political parties and other stakeholders, to examine the pros and cons of freebies, while maintaining that such promises have a significant impact on the economy.

The Centre had claimed freebies promised by political parties before polls is an “economic disaster”.

In a written response to a PIL by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay to regulate freebies, the EC said it welcomes the setting up of any such expert committee having representation from a "wide spectrum of the government and non-governmental bodies; concerned regulatory, planning, policy research institutions, political parties, domain experts crisscrossing relevant socio-economic sectors i.e. agriculture, finance, banking, social justice, environment, etc."

While committing to give its highest consideration to the expert body suggestion in strengthening or modifying its existing guidelines in the interest of purity of electoral process, the Commission said that it would be greatly benefitted by the recommendations of the expert body that the court may deem appropriate to set up.

The poll panel also submitted before the court that its oral observations made during the hearing that it seemed not serious in regulating the "menace of freebies", had been widely reported by the media and caused irreparable damage to the reputation to the institution built over the years.

Maintaining that such observations do not augur well for the country which is relatively younger but the largest and stable democracy in the world, the EC said it had earlier only reiterated its limitations imposed by the top court in S Subramaiam Balaji case.

In the Balaji case, the top court had said it could not use its inherent power to frame guidelines on the lines of Vishakha judgement to regulate election manifestos and promises made there as the area had no legislative vaccum.

Similarly, the court had said the EC can't use its plenary power under Article 324 to regulate manifestos.

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(Published 10 August 2022, 15:41 IST)

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