Supreme Court Dismisses PIL Seeking Directions On Election-Related Expenditure Of Political Parties

The Supreme Court on Friday (08.12.23) dismissed a PIL which sought directions on setting limits to the expenses on election-related affairs of the Political parties.

A bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra dismissed the matter.

The PIL sought directions regarding the calculation and fixing of expense limits by Political parties, restriction on the expenses of candidates, restriction on articles printed and posted prior to nominations and Courts to restrict pamphlets and posters etc.

The Petitioner highlighted that as per Section 86(7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the High Courts are to expeditiously dispose of election petitions within six months from the date on which the election petition is presented to the High Court for trial. However, he contended that the High Courts “do not decide even after 3-4 years”, and sought further directions to all High Courts to dispose of such petitions within the stipulated time frame.

Observing that the directions so sought fell in the ambit of the Legislature, the CJI remarked, “Either these are legislative changes or policy matters, how can we entertain a petition like this?”

The bench dismissed the matter saying, “ We can't command the Parliament that you enact a law on this subject”.

Case Title: Ramesh Kumar Khatri v. The Election Commission of India W.P.(C) No. 001163 - / 2023

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