New Delhi, February 26 The Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from the Centre and the Election Commission on a plea seeking directions to impose a cap on the expenditure by political parties for election purposes.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi issued notice to the Centre and the poll authority seeking their responses on the petition.
"Issue notice, returnable on April 27," the bench said.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for the petitioner NGOs Common Cause and Centre For Public Interest Litigation.
The plea said that the absence of any expenditure limit on political parties, despite strict limits on individual candidates under section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, creates an "unlevel playing field" in electoral contests, violating the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.
"Explanation 1(a) to Section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 creates a legal fiction by excluding from account the massive expenditure incurred by political parties in connection with the election of a candidate, even when the expenses serve the same electoral purpose," it said.
The plea said Section 77(1) of the Act introduced limits on the expenditure incurred by individual candidates during elections.
It also sought a direction to declare Explanation 1(a) to Section 77(1) of the Act as unconstitutional, being violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
The plea said free and fair elections form the bedrock of any democracy, and more so in a constitutional democracy like India.
"This court has time and again held that democracy, free and fair elections and the Rule of Law are basic features of the Constitution, meaning thereby that they cannot be dispensed with even by way of a constitutional amendment," it said.
The plea said one of the most important aspects of a free and fair election in a constitutional democracy is an electoral system free of corruption.
"The Supreme Court, while highlighting the role of money power in elections and electioneering, has consistently observed that elections today are increasingly being contested on the strength of money power often received from illegal sources having vested interest, thereby undermining the fairness of the electoral process itself," the plea said.
It claimed that by fixing a ceiling on the expenditure only in respect of the expense incurred or authorised by individual candidates alone, and not on the political party, the spirit of the provision has been allowed to meet its "slow and inevitable death".