The Supreme Court addressed concerns over the Karnataka Congress’s 2023 election manifesto promises. A complainant argued that these commitments amounted to direct and indirect financial assistance to the public, constituting corrupt electoral practices. The court’s remarks and the ongoing legal scrutiny highlight the contentious nature of election promises and their potential impact on fair electoral conduct.
Karnataka: The Supreme Court recently stated that promises made by political parties in their election manifestos, which may result in providing financial assistance to the general public, either directly or indirectly, will not be considered as ‘corrupt practice’ under the Representation of People Act.
Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan, in dismissing appeals against a Karnataka High Court decision, made an observation. They rejected the argument that a political party’s manifesto commitments, resulting in financial assistance to the public, could constitute corrupt practice by a candidate.
Read Also: Congress Election Manifesto Not ‘Corrupt Practices’ : Karnataka High Court
Their statement reads,
“The notion that commitments made by a political party in its manifesto, which subsequently result in financial aid to the public, could be deemed corrupt practice by a candidate from that party, is unsubstantiated and cannot be endorsed.”
A voter from the Chamrajpet Assembly Constituency filed an election petition before the High Court, challenging Khan’s election victory.
The complainant argued that the promises made by the Congress party in its 2023 Karnataka assembly election manifesto, which included direct and indirect financial assistance to the public, amounted to a corrupt electoral practice.
However, the High Court ruled that while these promises may represent poor policy decisions, they cannot be categorized as a ‘corrupt practice’ under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.
The High Court affirmed,
“The five guarantees of the Indian National Congress should be viewed as social welfare policies. Whether they are economically feasible or not is a separate matter entirely. It is incumbent upon other parties to demonstrate how the implementation of these schemes could result in the bankruptcy of the State Treasury, potentially leading to misgovernance. While they may be deemed as erroneous policies given the specific circumstances, they cannot be labelled as corrupt practices,”
After the High Court’s decision, the complainant then approached the Supreme Court with an appeal.
Read Also: ‘Election Manifesto Promises Not Considered Corrupt Practice’: Karnataka HC
The Supreme Court, in its ruling, stated that the specific question of law regarding whether the manifesto promises made by the Congress party amounted to a corrupt electoral practice did not need to be addressed in the present case.
As a result, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal. However, the court left the legal question open for future consideration.
The complainant represented by a team of advocates comprising Balaji Srinivasan, Vishwaditya Sharma, and Lakshmi Rao
Read order: [Shashanka J Sreedhara vs BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan].
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