In this article. Syeda Muneera Ali of KIIT School of Law discusses whether a political party can be made accountable for poll promises or not?

Introduction

The concept of politics in India is a rather topsy-turvy one. There are several sects of people, who are a part of politics, for several reasons and motives. From having an unimaginable power to fulfilling personal and religious agendas, the motivational drive for being a part of politics varies from party to party and more importantly, individual to individual.

The fact that India struggles with thousands of illiterate and uneducated voters, is a challenge of its own. It becomes easier for political parties or individuals to make absurd promises and get out of fulfilling these promises in the long run. For example, if a politician promises people below the poverty line, two square meals a day, it more likely than not, that these desperate people would readily vote for the said political party. However, the unethical part comes into the picture when the same politicians revert their statements and sadistically succeed in manipulating and cheating the voters. Due to the lack of education, and resources, these voters are left with no possible choice, but to suffer.

It has been an everlasting tradition in India, for political parties to make promises, in order to lure the voters. This practice, though common in India, is an extremely undesired and unethical one. It is unfair for political parties to manipulate innocent, and often reluctant voters, into voting for their political parties, and in return, give them monetary or materialistic benefits. Moreover, more often than not, political parties have a rather improper way of representing their promises. Let us take a hypothetical example:

Person ‘A’ from Party ‘XYZ’, promises to eradicate poverty from a locality called Neb Sarai in Delhi. Hoping to have a better life, several people from underprivileged families voted for this person. After winning the election, ‘A’ relocated several underprivileged families to a locality that is worse than the previous one.

Such an act of misrepresentation is often seen in India, and ultimately leads to a loss of faith amongst voters, and the toll of voters is significantly reduced. It is now crucial for political parties to step up and fulfil their promises, in order to ensure that voters have faith and confidence in the system of Democracy.

Are political parties legally liable to fulfill their promises?

Before an election, political parties are asked to prepare election manifestos. An election manifesto is a published document, that is a representation of what an individual, group or party aims to achieve or its motives. In most cases, it is a declaration of the political ideologies and the publically established opinion of the said political party. These manifestos are generally published, as well as publicised by those declaring it. Furthermore, Lord Denning, sitting in the House of Lords observed in Bromley London Borough Council Vs. Greater London Council, 1982, that, “A manifesto issued by a political party – in order to get votes – is not to be taken as gospel. It is not to be regarded as a bond, signed, sealed and delivered.” Though there is no legal remedy for broken promises by political parties, this issue has been constantly debated by the Indian Courts.

In 2015, a PIL filed by advocate Mithilesh Kumar Pandey was rejected by a bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy, who then questioned the legality behind the idea of making political parties accountable for their political promises. The Supreme Court of India further explained that it was not the court’s job to adjudicate matters of unfulfilled promises at the time of elections, as they are not legally bound to do so. The petition was, therefore, dismissed on the grounds of ‘no merit’. However, more recently in 2017, Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, said that electoral promises routinely remain unfulfilled and political parties must be held accountable for them.

Why should political parties be held accountable for their poll promises

Political parties in India have often been involved in several promises that may be practically impossible to achieve. However, their constant assurance often lead to people believing in such absurd and unattainable promises. Such immoral ways of attaining votes are often extremely cruel and unethical. Such repeated actions often lead to a general distrust amongst people, who eventually stop believing in political ideologies. This often defeats the purpose of an efficient, democratic election, as people are more inclined towards treating elections and election promises as a burden, as opposed to it being a right. To explain this concept, let us take an example:

Year after year, party ‘ABC’ had promised that they would strive to eradicate caste-based violence from the country, thereby leading to them receiving a large number of votes from lower castes. Once elected, the very same party was caught practising caste-ism in a remote village.

It is important to understand that such a situation could lead to two outcomes:

• (a) the people would stop having faith in the said party, thereby leading to them changing their preferred party, or,
• (b) people losing faith in the entirety of the election system of the country, which would lead to people abstaining from casting their votes. What should be concerning, is that both these situations are distressing people, in some form or another.

It is therefore important for political parties to be accountable for their promises and their actions. Releasing political parties from being accountable for their promises would eventually lead to a disruption of justice, and pave a steady path for incompetence and malified intentions.

Why should political parties not be accountable for their poll promises?

Political scenarios in India are excessively complicated. India constantly battles several important and essential problems, that need urgent and great attention. Political parties often strive to meet the demands of people and provide them with the justice they rightly deserve. However, it is important to understand that whilst parties try to make good of their promises, it often becomes difficult and nearly impossible to fulfil all of these promises. Making a political party legally accountable for all their promises would lead to parties only focusing on one problem at a time, whilst voluntarily choosing to ignore the other problems.

An ignorance of solutions to some problems, whilst preferring to resolve the others may lead to an increase in the inefficient eradication of the untouched problems. Furthermore, legal accountability would often lead to several legal consequences, that may be a burden on the state and central funds, and in extreme scenarios, lead to disastrous decisions.

The idea that political parties should be held accountable for their poll promises may be a good one, but, it isn’t an efficient one.it would eventually lead to ideologically and intellectually guarded decisions and declarations, that would defeat the entire concept of all-round development in India or a particular state.  

Is it preferred for political parties to be accountable?

India is a developing country, that needs to grow as a country in a unified manner. Politicians and political parties work for the betterment of our country, and it is essential for people to let them do so. However, making someone unaccountable for their words and promises negatively encourages them to make more unfulfilled and absurd promises. It also leads to lies and deceit.

The current scenario of not holding political parties accountable, or not compelling the ruling parties to fulfil their promises, is reducing the election manifestos into a mere document, filled with rhetorics, that feed gullible and innocent voters. It is indeed, a devious way of gaining political power, and thereby deceiving the very same people who tried giving them a chance by innocently believing in their tactics.

It is, therefore, important for political parties to be made accountable for their promises, and convert, what is a mere morality, into a legal responsibility. Furthermore, such electoral promises should be made legally binding, if not constitutionally binding. A strict legal accountability would lead to a strict sense of obligation on the part of political parties to fulfil their promises.

The High Courts of states and the Supreme Court of India, should strive to create a better situation for the voters, and ensure that India does not appreciate false promises. There must, therefore, be some legislation, that holds political parties or individuals from political parties liable for non-fulfilment of their promises, that they so confidently declare. The people of India, i.e., the voters need to keep a track of political parties who make promises and fail to fulfil them, and it is important for the people to express their discontent in a legal and efficient manner.

One major advantage of holding people accountable for their promises is that it would lead to people being responsible for their actions. It is possible that this would lead to an eventual confidence in the fact that those who would join politics or a particular political party, would actually work for the betterment of the society, rather than those who join politics for perks and privileges. It might also lead to a betterment in the quality of our politicians, and create a path of growth and development, instead of deceit and unfulfilled promises.  

Conclusion

Political parties in present times are free to make as many promises as they desire, without any legal obligation to actually fulfil these promises. However, in a democracy like India, it is important for people to be accountable for their promises and not be free of consequence. If the common people of India are liable for their promises in the court of law, why should the people who rule the country, and the people who aim to rule the country, be exempted from such liability?

Suggested readings

A Quick Guide On How To Establish A Political Party In India

All You Need To Know About Funding Of Political Parties In India

Law related to donation by companies to political parties in India

References:

1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/poll-promises-routinely-unfulfilled-parties-must-be-held-accountable-cji-khehar/articleshow/58080911.cms
2. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/electoral-reforms-remain-unfulfilled-political-parties-must-be-held-accountable-cji-khehar/
3. http://jcil.lsyndicate.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/A-CRITICAL-ANALYSIS-OF-DISTRIBUTION-OF-ELECTION-FREEBIES-Kunal-Shreya.pdf