Amitava Roy, C.J. - (1.) HEARD Mr. Ajay Kumar Jain, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. G.S. Bapna, learned Senior Advocate and Advocate General, Rajasthan assisted by Mr. V. Garg for the respondents. The instant petition seeking to initiate a public interest litigation, is directed against the decision of the State Government to release an amount of Rs. 2100/ - for every family that had completed 100 days of employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (hereafter referred to as MNREGA) during the Financial Year 2012 -13 and of providing sarees and blankets to the BPL families and other families, similarly placed, in terms of the budget provisions for the Financial Year 2013 -14.
(2.) ACCORDING to the petitioner, who is Chartered Accountant by profession and also Vice President of the State Unit of Samajwadi Party, these initiatives amount to corrupt practice of bribery defined under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act, 1953 (for short, hereafter referred to as 'the Act') and have been undertaken to secure the political prospects of the party in power in the impending Assembly elections. The petitioner, while underlining the significance of free and fair elections as an the essence of democratic ethos, has referred to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, a legislation motivating the movement to actualize the right to work by providing at least 100 days' employment every year in the rural area to at least one able -bodied person in the rural poor household. Underlining that the purpose of the MNREGA Scheme thereunder is to generate employment and not of dolling out cash to the people, the government in power has been accused of the aforestated steps, pursuant to the budget declarations for the Financial Year 2013 -14, to be a move to bribe the voters for their support in the ensuing elections. The petitioner has dismissed the provision of Rs. 2100/ - as a measure to assist the persons concerned to generate self employment, to be wholly purported and unrealistic and directed only to advance the election prospects of the party in power. Vis -a -vis the decision to distribute sarees and blankets to the families of BPL and State BPL schemes, to be purchased from Khadi Bhandar, Bunker Sangh and Handloom Corporations, for which a provision of Rs. 300 crores has been made, he has alleged that the decision to release an amount of Rs. 1500/ - in lieu thereof, is an apparent instance of offering gratification to the voters to gain political mileage. Referring to an identical step taken by the earlier government in the year 2008 and the intervention of this Court by way of interim measure in D.B. Civil Writ Petition (PIL) No. 10733/2008 (Mohan Lal Sharma Vs. State of Rajasthan & Anr.), the petitioner has sought annulment of these decisions contending that the same are grossly unconstitutional and against public interest.
(3.) THE State -respondents in their reply have questioned the permissibility of the challenge by the petitioner contending that the provisions, based whereupon, the impugned decisions had been taken, were contained in the budget laid for the Financial Year 2013 -14, which was duly deliberated upon and approved in the State Legislative Assembly attended as well by the M.L.A. of the Samajwadi Party, who did not oppose the same. The answering respondents, without prejudice to these, have asserted that the decision to release an amount of Rs. 2100/ - to the persons contemplated in the order dated 28.3.2013 is not only to effectuate the relevant budget provision, but also to encourage self employment of the targeted weaker sections of the society, as desired by the State Government. As the sole objective is to encourage and motivate rural people towards self employment rather than depending upon the State employment, the answering respondents have repudiated the instant challenge to be detrimental to public interest. A compilation of the statistics demonstrating such payments as made, has also been appended to the reply. It has been contended as well that on an earlier occasions, incentive of Rs. 250/ - to women workers, as reward under the NREGA Scheme for 100 days, had been provided and the scheme to that effect had been implemented in the years 2008 -09, 2009 -10 & 2010 -11. Qua the impeachment of the decision to release an amount of Rs. 1500/ - in lieu of sarees and blankets, the answering respondents have stated that at the time of implementation of the proposal to this effect, as made in the budget, difficulties in procuring such large number of sarees and blankets (40 lacs sarees and 80 lacs blankets) were encountered on many fronts. The selected organizations, namely, Khadi Board, Handloom Corporation and Bunkar Sangh, were not found to have the capacity to produce and make available such huge supplies. It was therefore, suggested that an amount, as a substitute, be provided in cash, so that therewith the eligible families may purchase the sarees and blankets of their choice. Accordingly, according to the respondents, Rs. 1500/ - each was disbursed to the eligible families. A compilation of the statistics of the amount so released has also been annexed to the reply.;