Fact Check: SC Did Not Order Forming ‘All India Tax Payers Organisation’ to Regulate Election Freebies

New Delhi (Vishvas News) A message going viral on social media has claimed that the Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the setting up of an ‘All India Tax Payers Organisation’, and without the consent or approval of this body, no government can make populist announcements like free electricity, free water or loan waivers.

Vishvas News found the claim to be false. No such announcement has been made by the SC. However, while hearing a petition related to this matter, the apex court had called the announcement of freebies during elections a ‘serious issue’ and asked the Centre, NITI Aayog, Finance Commission and other stakeholders including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to deliberate on it. After the said petition was filed in 2022, the SC agreed to hear the petition demanding a ban on the distribution of freebies during elections, in 2024.

What is going viral?

The user sent this video to Vishvas News tipline number +91 9599299372 and requested to know the truth. Many other users have shared it on different social media platforms, with similar and identical claims.

Investigation 

In our news search, we did not find any recent report that mentioned any such order. However, we found a report published on the Times of India website on May 31, 2024, which mentions the case.

The report said, “As campaigning ends for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections in which several cash and freebies were announced, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a two-year-old batch of PILs seeking an assessment of the financial burden of such announcements by political parties and the funds required to fulfil them.”

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra heard several PILs led by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, one of which was filed by him.

According to the report, a hearing is expected soon in this case. Further searches also revealed  many old reports in which the petition is mentioned.

According to an August 3, 2022 report by The Hindu, “The Supreme Court has asked to form a committee to look into the matter of freebies and ask all the parties to give their opinion in the matter.”

According to another report dated August 3, 2022, “The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked stakeholders such as the Centre, Niti Aayog, Finance Commission and RBI to brainstorm on the “serious” issue of announcement of freebies during elections and give “constructive suggestions” to deal with it.”

On the SC’s website, we found a copy of the Record of Proceedings of this case, which states- “Keeping in mind these petitions, which relate to the announcement of free services by political parties, we believe that it would be appropriate to constitute a committee of experts in this matter, which will include representatives of all stakeholders. These stakeholders include beneficiaries who are opposing this freebie, Central Government, State Government, Opposition Parties, Finance Commission, Reserve Bank of India, Niti Aayog, among others, so that this matter can be looked into holistically.” After this, the court had asked all the parties to submit their suggestions.

 After this hearing in 2022, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case in 2024. That is, even in 2022, the Supreme Court did not give any decision in this case, which has been claimed in the viral post.

We contacted Supreme Court advocate Rudra Vikram Singh regarding the viral post. He clarified that the Supreme Court had not ordered the formation of any such organisation. However, the Supreme Court is ready to hear the petition related to this matter.