‘Too Far-Fetched to Term Commitments by a Party a Corrupt Practice’, SC on Karnataka Cong Manifesto

A bench of the Supreme Court comprising justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan declined to accept the contention that the commitments made by a political party in its manifesto could be termed as a corrupt practice by a candidate of the party. The apex court rejected a petition filed by a voter from the Chamrajpet Assembly Constituency in Karnataka.

New Delhi :The Supreme Court has declined to accept the contention that the commitments made by a political party in its manifesto, leading to direct or indirect financial help to the public at large, could be termed as a corrupt practice by a candidate of the party.

A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan said the court has carefully perused the material placed on record and also heard counsel, representing the petitioner Shashanka J. Sreedhara, at considerable length. “The contention of the learned counsel that the commitments by a political party in its manifesto, which eventually lead to direct or indirect financial help to the public at large, will also amount to corrupt practice by a candidate of that party, is too far-fetched and cannot be accepted”, said the bench, in an order passed on May 17. The order was recently uploaded on the apex court website.

The apex court, stressing it is not keen on entertaining such a question elaborately in the instant case, said: “In any case, in the facts and circumstances of these cases, we need not to go into such a question elaborately. The appeals are, accordingly, dismissed”. The bench, however, kept the question of law open, which could be decided in an appropriate case.

The petitioner had moved the apex court assailing an order passed by the Karnataka High Court. In April this year, the high court had stated that a party's announcement regarding the policy they hope to implement is not, for the purposes of Section 123 of the Representation of Peoples Act, a corrupt practice.

The petitioner, who is a voter from the Chamrajpet Assembly Constituency, filed an election petition challenging the selection of candidate B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, who was a winning candidate from the Indian National Congress (INC), in the 2023 Karnataka state legislature election. The petition was dismissed by a single judge bench led by Justice M I Arun.

The petitioner specified that Zameer Ahmed Khan has wooed the voters by offering five guarantees. "By that they have lured the voters. So, it has corrupted the electorate under the Representation of the People Act. Therefore, the selection of Zameer Ahmed should be annulled," the petitioner had requested.

A plea by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay against promises for freebies made by political parties’ during the elections is already pending in the apex court.