New Delhi, Feb 26 (NationPress) The Supreme Court has taken a significant step by issuing a notice to the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding a public interest litigation (PIL) that calls for a limit on election expenses incurred by political parties.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, has requested responses from both the Union government and the electoral body, with the case scheduled for a hearing in six weeks.

The petition asserts that while Section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 imposes strict spending limits on individual candidates, there is currently no equivalent cap on the expenditures of political parties.

Filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of the non-governmental organization Common Cause, the petition claims that this legal loophole permits parties to utilize unlimited financial resources during electoral campaigns, effectively nullifying the spending limits imposed on candidates.

The Supreme Court's Constitution Bench previously recognized this discrepancy in the case of Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., which pointed out the detrimental effects of unregulated party spending on electoral fairness and democratic engagement.

The petition emphasizes that free and fair elections are the foundation of India’s constitutional democracy, and that unrestricted party spending has eroded the equality of political opportunity, distorting the representative nature of parliamentary democracy.

It also cites recommendations from various expert bodies, including the Law Commission’s 170th Report and consultations by the ECI in 2015, advocating for regulations or limits on political party expenditures.

Furthermore, the petition argues that unrestricted financial spending has led to an increasing trend towards the “presidentialisation” of Indian elections, where campaigns focus on a singular leader through extensive financial investments, which contradicts the parliamentary framework established by the Constitution.

As a point of comparison, the PIL mentions the United Kingdom’s Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which enforces statutory limits on campaign expenditures by political parties and imposes penalties for violations.

In conclusion, the petition contends that the escalating power of money in politics has severely compromised electoral fairness, equality of political opportunity, and the representative nature of parliamentary democracy, seeking judicial directions to create a level playing field in elections.