Shubh Palvia, Symbiosis Law School Pune
Introduction:
Political freebies are those goods and services provided by the government at no cost to the individuals that are deprived through welfare schemes. Whereas irrational political freebies are those freebies that are simply not required and are wasting the taxpayer’s money. In terms of a legal perspective, there is no statute on the issue of irrational political freebies, but there are various pros and cons that can be looked at from an economic aspect, and the legal aspect can be explored and discussed. The concept of political freebies isn’t particular to a leftist or a rightist approach, and multiple parties in India are known to provide freebies.
Recently, the Supreme Court referred an election-freebies case primarily concerned with irrational freebies to a 3-judge bench.1 The issue of political and irrational freebies has been prevalent for years now, and there have also been various instances when political parties were on the pretext of distributing welfare freebies were providing goods for a political advantage. The landmark case at issue is S. Subramaniam Balaji v. Tamil Nadu,2 and it looks at the issue of political parties and construes whether the promises mentioned can be challenged in a court of law.
Recent Developments:
The first instances of political freebies being used by parties began in 1954 in southern India, where Kumaraswami Kamaraj of Madras(Present day Tamil Nadu) state would offer free education and meals to students.3 In 1967, CN Annadurai promised to provide 4.5 kg of rice for Rs 1 once he got elected.
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