HC declines urgent hearing on plea against pre-poll freebies

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to give an urgent hearing to a plea seeking to restrain all political parties from making promises of offering freebies to people if they are voted to power. A Bench of Justices B D Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar said there is no such urgency that the petition should be heard today itself and "let it come up in the normal course of filing". It also asked how the issue concerns Delhi, as elections are going to be held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. "Why don't you go and file your petition in the Allahabad High Court," the court said to the petitioner, a Delhi resident. The plea by Ashok Sharma has sought direction to the ECI to restrain all political parties from distributing free goods.