The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of the MPLAD scheme under which MPs are allocated Rs two crore annually for development of their constituencies. The court said it cannot be scrapped merely because of allegations of misuse by some MPs.
In an unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan said there are 'sufficient checks and balances' to prevent misuse of the scheme.
“Mere allegation of misuse of the funds under the Scheme by some MPs by itself may not be a ground for it's scrapping as checks and safeguards have been provided. Parliament has the power to enquire and take appropriate action against the erring members," the Bench, also comprising Justices R V Raveendran, D K Jain, P Sathasivam and J M Panchal, said.
The court rejected the contention of the opponents of the scheme that the sitting MPs have clear edge over their rivals as the funds in hand they can spend or promise more.
"This argument is liable to be rejected as it is not based on any scientific analysis or empirical data. We also find this argument a half-hearted attempt to contest the constitutionality of the scheme," Justice Sathasivam, writing the judgement for the Bench, said.
"MPLADS makes funds available to sitting MPs for developmental work and if MPs utilized the funds properly, it would result in his better performance. If that leads to people voting for the incumbent candidate, it certainly does not violate any principle of free and fair elections," the Bench said.
