Supreme Court Dismisses Review Plea On Freebies Issue

Hyderabad: A division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Justice Surya Kant and Justice K. Vinod Chandran dismissed a petition filed by Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao seeking review of its order dated July 24, by which it had rejected his original petition on the issue of freebies.

After examining the review petition and the documents placed on record, the bench held that no grounds were made out to review of the earlier order.

In the original petition, Dr Ramachandra Rao, a former two-term Rajya Sabha member, contended that unregulated expenditure on welfare and cash transfer schemes by state governments had resulted in serious fiscal stress and economic instability. He argued that the absence of a regulatory framework for such schemes had led to mounting public debt, sale of government properties, and diversion of funds from essential sectors such as infrastructure development.

The petitioner submitted that, owing to fiscal mismanagement, states were facing delays in payment of salaries, pensions and statutory dues, thereby affecting governance and the fundamental rights of citizens. Relying on his experience on parliamentary committees and in advisory roles, Ramachandra Rao asserted that unplanned and unproductive schemes announced for political mileage had undermined financial accountability.

The petition sought judicial intervention to enforce fiscal discipline and to mandate guidelines or legislation regulating the announcement and implementation of welfare schemes.