Today, the Supreme Court of India issued notice on a writ petition challenging the cash assistance offers announced by the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as 'election freebies'.

Furthermore, the bench has also served notices to the Union of India, the States of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and the Election Commission of India. The matter has been scheduled for a hearing four weeks from now.

CJI DY Chandrachud, leading the bench, noted that this petition will be consolidated with a prior case Ashwini Upadhyay v Union of India, which had previously raised concerns about election freebies and had been referred to a three-judge bench back in August 2022.

The petitioner, Bhattulal Jain, during the trails argued that the economic conditions in both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are severely strained. Despite this challenging economic backdrop, the Chief Ministers of these states have chosen cash benefits a few months ahead of the assembly elections, which are due the end of this year. Furthermore, he highlighted the dire financial situation in Madhya Pradesh, asserting that the state has resorted to mortgaging public assets in order to secure loans.

"Before elections, all kinds of promises are made. Can we control them?" CJI DY Chandrachud asked the petitioner's counsel.

"A line has to be drawn between what is public interest and what is not. Distributing cash- nothing is more atrocious than permitting the government to distribute cash. Six months before elections these things start. Ultimately the burden is on tax paying citizens of this country." the counsel replied.

The bench during the hearing asked the petitioners to remove the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh from the array of parties and substitute them with the respective State Governments.

"No government can declare free electricity, free water or loan waiver without the approval of the legislative assembly, irrespective of which government is ruling. Since the money belongs to our taxpayers, they have the right to monitor its use", the petition said.

Case Title - Bhattulal Jain v. Union of India