The SC suggested expert body on freebies will include various stakeholders, not just taxpayers
Update (25 May 2023): In November 2022, the Supreme Court referred the case to a Bench of Three Judges. The case is currently pending as on 25 May 2023
A post is being shared on social media with the following claim – “The Supreme Court decides to set up a committee yesterday to form an All India Organization of taxpayers should be formed, which will be the biggest organization in the world. No matter which Government is ruling, without the approval of this Organisation, no free electricity, free water, free distribution, or loan waivers can be announced by any government implement them. As the Money belongs to our tax payments, so the taxpayers should have the right to oversee its use….Whatever schemes are announced, the government should first give their blueprints and take consent from this organisation. This should be applicable even to the salaries of MPs & MLAs and the other indiscriminate benefits they get”. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: The Supreme Court has decided to set up a committee to form an All-India Organisation of Taxpayers which will be the biggest organisation in the world and oversee the decisions taken by the governments on freebies.
Fact: The SC has not decided to set up a committee to form an All-India Organisation of Taxpayers which will be the biggest organisation in the world. However, the SC suggested an expert body on freebies that will include various stakeholders, not just limited to taxpayers as mentioned in the post. Also, there is no mention of absolute powers to the suggested body. The SC asked the parties to make their suggestions about the composition of such a body within one week’s time. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched on the internet about the Supreme Court (SC) setting up a committee to form an All-India Organisation of Taxpayers, we could not find any specific information about setting up the world’s biggest organisation to oversee and decide on the plans made by the governments on freebies. However, we found that the SC has recently sought suggestions from different parties about constituting a committee that will look into the freebies issue and makes recommendations.
The recent order of the SC on this matter can be seen here (archive). The court said – “it would be appropriate to constitute an Expert Body with representatives of all the stakeholders: the beneficiaries, those opposing freebies, Central Government, State Governments, opposition parties, Finance Commission, Reserve Bank of India, Niti Ayog etc., to name a few, to take a holistic and comprehensive view of the matter and making their recommendations.” The suggested body will include various stakeholders, not just limited to taxpayers as mentioned in the post. Also, there is no mention of absolute powers to the suggested body.
Also, the SC said – “the parties are directed to make their suggestions about the composition of such a body within one week’s time” and it listed the case on 11 August 2022.
To sum it up, the SC suggested expert body on freebies will include various stakeholders, not just taxpayers.