Welfare Schemes Not "Freebies"; Union Govt's Tax Holidays, Waiver Of Bad Loans Also Should Be Considered : DMK Tells Supreme Court

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is the latest party to approach the Supreme Court in the "freebies" issue, after the Aam Aadmi Party and the Indian National Congress, saying that welfare schemes intended to ensure social and economic justice can't be termed "freebies".

The application moved by the DMK seeking to implead itself in the PIL filed by former BJP Spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay stated : 

"It is humbly submitted that a welfare scheme providing a free service are introduced with an intent to secure a social order and economic justice under Article 38 to minimise the inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities. In no imaginable reality, it could be construed as a "freebie". Such schemes have been introduced in order to provide basic necessities which the poor households cannot afford. They cannot be imputed to be luxuries".

As an example, the party which governs the State of Tamil Nadu cited free electricity which can have "multi-dimesnional effects". "Electricity can provide lighting, heating and cooling resulting into a better standard of living. It can facilitate a child in his education and studies. A welfare scheme therefore, can have a wide reach and multiple intentions behind its introduction and the cascading effect arising from it cannot be defined in a restrictive meaning as a freebie", the application stated.

It also questioned why the petitioner has only added the Union Government and the Election Commission of India as the respondents in the case when the policies of the state governments were under scrutiny.

"It is respectfully submitted that the Union of India is not the stakeholder in the present proceedings despite the fact that the Writ Petition blames those political parties which have been elected to power in the State Legislature. Therefore, it was imperative for the Petitioner to implead such parties as Respondents. This Hon'ble Court has to consider the interests of all stakeholders representing diverse regions", the plea said.

Says Union's tax holidays and loan waivers must be considered.

The DMK also said that only a welfare scheme introduced by a State Government cannot be judged to be classified as a freebie. The ruling government at the Union giving tax holidays to foreign companies, waiver of bad loans of influential industrialists, granting crucial contracts to favoured conglomerates etc. also have to be considered and cannot be left untouched.

"This Hon'ble Court cannot have a restrictive approach for classifying any scheme or act by the Union/State Legislature to be a "freebie" without considering the magnitude of resultant consequences and social welfare at both micro and macro level", the plea said.

On August 3, a bench led by the Chief Justice of India, saying that the issue of "freebies" was a serious one, observed that an expert body should be constituted to examine the matter. The bench suggested that the expert panel could comprise representatives of the Central and State Governments, opposition political parties, Election Commission of India, Finance Commission, Reserve Bank of India, NIT Aayog etc.