SC notice to Tamil Nadu govt for TV largesse

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a plea questioning its distribution of colour TV sets to a section of the electorate in keeping with the ruling DMK party's pre-poll promise.

On a public interest petition by S Subramaniam Balaji questioning the DMK government's largesse, a Bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan issued notices also to the Central Government's Finance Ministry, the Election Commission of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

Questioning the legality and constitutionality of the state government's scheme to distribute over 5.3 million TV sets worth Rs.24 billion to a section of the electorate, the petitioner sought to know the extent to which a government is entitled to "fritter away" the taxpayers' money.

He said the government's ongoing scheme of the TV set distribution was in gross violation of Article 262 of the Constitution that mandates a government to make grants only for public purpose.

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In his petition, Balaji told the court that the state government was distributing television sets on the pretext of giving the poor a means of acquiring knowledge and entertainment and elevating their life standards through it.

Balaji contended that a pre-poll promise by a political party to distribute TV sets and other luxurious items free of cost to a section of the electorate is simply an electoral offence and amounts to resorting to corrupt practices to woo voters.