Supreme Court on pre-election freebies debate: petitions to be heard by 3-judge bench, early listing

The Supreme Court proceeded another step towards hearing the contentious issue of political parties promising freebies ahead of elections.

A two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi on 1 November 2022 said that the matter will be heard "in entirety" by a three-judge bench.

The court added that due to the nature of the controversy and submissions made by the parties in earlier hearings, the matter would be listed as early as possible.

Earlier, a bench headed by then CJI N V Ramana, since retired, had directed on August 26 that the pleas be listed before a three-judge bench as they needed an "extensive" hearing.

The bench had said that the 2013 judgement delivered by a two-judge bench of the apex court in the matter of S Subramaniam Balaji vs the Government of Tamil Nadu and others required reconsideration.

A bunch of petitions have opposed handouts promised by political parties ahead of polls. The petitioners want the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze the election symbols of such parties and cancel their registration.

(With PTI inputs)