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The Supreme Court on Thursday (Feb 5, 2026) agreed to list for hearing in March a PIL seeking direction to seize the symbol or cancel the registration of a political party that promises or gives away “irrational benefits” before voting.
Lawyer-petitioner Ashwini Updhyaya told a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that notices on his PIL were issued to the Center and the Election Commission in 2022 and urged them to raise the matter soon.
“Except for Sun and Moon, all political parties promise to voters during elections is a corrupt practice,” the lawyer said.
“This is an important topic. Please remind us and mention it at the end. We will release the list in March,” the CJI said.
On 25 January 2022, a commission headed by the then Chief Justice NV Ramana sought responses from the Center and the Election Commission on a PIL seeking direction to seize the symbol or cancel the registration of a political party that promises or gives away “irrational benefits” before voting.
The bench called it a “serious problem” and sometimes said “the attention budget is beyond the scope of the regular budget”.
The plea urged the court to declare that the promise of “irrational freebies” from public funds before an election unduly influences voters, distorts the level playing field and impairs the purity of the voting process.
The petition, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, alternatively sought to direct the Center to enact a law in this regard.
The politics of “liberty” and judicial oversight
“The petitioner submits that the recent trend of political parties to influence the electorate by offering freedom with regard to elections is not only the biggest threat to the survival of democratic values but also damages the spirit of the Constitution,” the plea reads.
“This unethical practice is like bribing voters at the cost of the exchequer to stay in power and must be avoided to preserve democratic principles and practices,” it said.
The petition also sought to direct the ECI to insert an additional condition in the relevant clauses of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Ordinance, 1968, which deals with the conditions for recognition as a state party, that “a political party shall not promise/give away irrational liberties from public fund before elections”.
The petitioner urged the Supreme Court to declare that the promise or distribution of private goods or services not for public purposes from public funds before an election violates several articles of the Constitution, including Article 14 (equality before the law).
The plea related to promises made by certain political parties in some states before the parliamentary vote.
The mainstay of democracy is the electoral process and the handing out of money and the promise of freedom has reached alarming levels, with elections being contested several times.
“The petitioner claims that the arbitrary promises of irrational votes violate the ECI’s mandate for free and fair elections and the distribution of private goods and services that are not for public purposes out of public funds clearly violates Articles 14, 162, 266(3) and 282 of the Constitution,” he said.
Published – February 5, 2026 1:15 PM IST
