Observing that the court “cannot control” promises made by political parties before elections, the Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the central government, the Election Commission of India, and the Madhya Pradesh government on a petition filed by a social worker.
The petitioner, Bhattulal Jain, argued that “all kinds of promises” were being made ahead of assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked Jain to delete the Rajasthan chief minister’s office from the array of parties and implead the state in its place.
Jain’s petition has been ordered to be listed with a pending case filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, who has sought directions to the Election Commission to seize election symbols and deregister political parties which promise or distribute irrational freebies using public funds before elections.
Jain had earlier filed a public interest litigation before the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking directions to the chief minister to not make announcements and promises. He had also sought directions to look into the financial condition of the state.
The high court on June 26 dismissed Jain’s plea on the ground that a PIL filed on the basis of newspaper reports was not maintainable. Jain then petitioned the top court in appeal.
