No, SC Has Not Ordered the Formation of ‘All India Organisation of Taxpayers'

The Supreme Court has suggested the formation of a body to look into freebies offered by political parties.

The Supreme Court has not ordered the formation of an 'All India Organisation of Taxpayers' to oversee freebies.

(Source: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

A viral claim on social media says that the Supreme Court of India (SC) has ordered the formation of an "All India Organisation of Taxpayers," which will oversee the approval of and monitor freebies – such as loan waivers, free water, free electricity – offered by governments and political parties across the country.

The text welcomes the move as the money used to implement freebies is taxpayer money, and "taxpayers should have the right to oversee its use."

However, the claim is false. While the Supreme Court has not passed any such orders, it recently suggested the formation of such a body following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

The apex court suggested the "expert body" be comprised of stakeholders such as "Finance Commission, Reserve Bank of India, Niti Ayog etc., (sic)" among others.

CLAIM

A viral claim states that the Supreme Court has ordered the formation of an 'All India Organisation of Taxpayers' which will oversee the approval and monitor freebies offered by political parties across the country.

The claim says that no government will be allowed to offer free electricity, free distribution, or loan waivers without prior approval of this "biggest organisation in the world," as the money for these programmes belongs to the taxpayers and they should "have the right to oversee its use."

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Archives of similar claims on social media can be seen here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We looked for news reports regarding the formation of an "All India Organisation of taxpayers," but did not find any mention of such a body.

However, we came across news reports mentioning that the Supreme Court had suggested the formation of a body of this kind.

As per a report by The Hindu, the apex court called for a formation of a "specialised body" to oversee the freebies being offered by political parties and governments across the country.

The report mentioned that the Supreme Court had suggested the panel's formation.

(Source: TheHindu/Screenshot)

It mentioned that the SC had called on parties for their inputs and suggestions on the composition of the body, as it should has people who can "dispassionately examine the problem."

The apex court suggested the formation of this panel while hearing a PIL by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who sought directions to regulate freebies offered by political parties in India, reported Live Law.

To this, the panel comprising of Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli said that no political party would be willing to completely do away with the concept of offering them, and said that an expert panel should be constituted to oversee the matter, the report added.

We found a copy of the case's proceedings on the Supreme Court's website, which showed that the court called for the creation of an "Expert Body."

The panel noted that the body should have stakeholders such as "the beneficiaries, those opposing freebies, Central Government, State Governments, opposition parties, Finance Commission, Reserve Bank of India, Niti Ayog etc., (sic)," among others.

The record of the proceedings reflected that the Court had directed political parties to make their suggestions about the body's composition within a week's time.

The SC panel invited suggestions about the panel's composition from political parties.

(Source: Supreme Court/Screenshot)

Clearly, the Supreme Court has not ordered the formation of an "All India Organisation of Taxpayer" to approve, oversee, and monitor freebies offered by governments and political parties.

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