New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday slammed the freebies and subsidies culture ahead of elections and said it was “high time” to revisit such policies that hamper the country’s economic development.
Observing that the ultimate financial burden of such populist measures falls squarely on the shoulders of taxpayers, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant asked, “But this money which the state says it will pay now. Who will pay for it? This is taxpayers’ money.”
The observations were made during the hearing of a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited which proposed to give free electricity to all.
“It is understandable when some people cannot afford, you have to provide. There are children who cannot afford education, so the state must provide. It is the state’s duty. There are children who are bright but cannot afford to go to medical colleges. The state must help them. But the persons who can enjoy, have all means available and are affluent and therefore any kind of freebie first comes to their pocket…,” the CJI said.
The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, warned that the indiscriminate distribution of largesse is hampering the nation’s economic development and straining state exchequers already reeling under massive revenue deficits.
“It is high time that all political stalwarts, leaders, parties, and all social engineers, they need to revisit everything. We will be hampering the development of the nation if we keep on having this largesse distribution. There has to be a balance. But how long will this continue,” the CJI asked.
The state-owned firm has challenged Rule 23 of the Electricity (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which imposes strict financial discipline on power distribution companies.
The impugned rule requires that any gap between the approved cost of supplying electricity and the tariff actually recovered from consumers must not exceed 3 per cent and that such gaps must be cleared within a fixed time.
The DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu is going for assembly polls this year.
The top court, which issued notices to the Centre and others on the plea of Tamil Nadu firm, said it was quite understandable if states hand-hold the poor who are in need.
“Yes, some people cannot afford it. Some people cannot afford education or basic life. Yes it is the State’s duty to provide. But the ones who are enjoying freebies landing in their pockets first, is it not something that should be looked at,” the bench asked.
“Most of the states in the country are revenue deficit states and yet they are offering such freebies overlooking development,” it said.
