Commitments made by the Political Parties in their Election Manifesto for Financial help will not amount to Corrupt Practice by a Candidate: Supreme Court

In an order passed by the Supreme Court (SC) of India, the bench constituting Justice Surya Kant and Justice KV Viswanathan refused to accept the contention that commitments made by the political parties in their election manifesto, which eventually lead to financial help to the public, will amount to corrupt practice by a candidate of that party. These observations were made by the SC while rejecting appeals against the order of the Karnataka High Court rejecting an election petition challenging the election of BZ Zamir Ahmed Khan, a victorious candidate from the Congress party, from Chamrajpet Assembly Constituency. The order reads, “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. In any case, in the facts and circumstances of these cases, we need not to go into such question elaborately.” The top court dismissed the appeals stating that “the question of law is kept open to be decided in an appropriate case.” 

The High Court, in its order, held that a party’s declaration as to the policy that they intend to bring about cannot be considered a ‘corrupt practice’ for the purpose of Section 123 of the Representation of Peoples Act (RPA). The HC bench also referred to the judgment of the SC in the S. Subramaniam Balaji vs. Govt. of Tamil Nadu case, which opined that “The five guarantees of the Indian National Congress have to be considered as social welfare policies. Whether they are financially viable or not is altogether a different aspect. It is for the other parties to show as to how implementation of the said schemes amounts to bankruptcy of the State Treasury, and it can only lead to mal-governance of the State. It is possible that they can be termed as wrong policies under the given facts and circumstances of the case, but cannot be termed as corrupt practices.” While hearing the matter on May 27, the SC stated that the commitments made by the political parties in their election manifesto, which eventually lead to financial help to the public, will not amount to corrupt practice by a candidate of that party.