Supreme Court observation on freebies is judicial overreach, say experts

The SC had sought a reply from the Centre till the next hearing on August 3

The Supreme Court, on July 26, had sought a reply from the Centre whether a body like the Finance Commission can regulate freebies. It also sought to know whether revenue allocation to states could be regulated by taking into account the amount a state has spent on “unnecessary freebies”, especially ahead of elections.

Legal and fiscal experts say that the SC’s observation can be considered an overreach.

That aside, there is another problem. There is no Finance Commission as of now, as the Fifteenth Finance Comm­ission’s (15th FC’s) term has ended and the Sixteenth Finance Commission is yet to be