We will stop Ladki Bahin scheme/ freebies if.....: Supreme Court warns Maharashtra

The Supreme Court on Wednesday cautioned the Maharashtra government that it will stop freebies offered by the State like the 'Ladki Bahin Yojna' if it does not pay up the compensation due to landowners who were allotted denotified reserve forest land..A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan reiterated that if the needful is not done by August 28, the State's Chief Secretary may need to be summoned and recent sops announced in the budget would be stopped."If you (Maharashtra) do not pay, unless we permit we will not allow all those freebies in the State. We will stop ladki bahu, behn ... It is a holiday tomorrow, else if we would call the Chief Secretary tomorrow (and) it would be solved. But we also do not want to burden the State exchequer. We are constrained to make those observations. You have thousands of crores of public money (for freebies) but you cannot compensate someone whose was deprived of land without due process," Justice Gavai remarked today..The Bench was hearing a matter related to the compliance with its earlier order directing payment of compensatory afforestation levy by the State in connection with denotification of forest land at Pashan, Pune.The Supreme Court had on August 7 taken a dig at the Maharashtra government's recent budget under which various sops amounting to ₹96,000 crores were announced ahead of the State Assembly elections this year.Among those is the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana that proposes a ₹1,500 monthly to eligible women in the 21-65 age group."You have enough of money for Laadli bahu (schemes) and all. All the money spent on freebies, you should take money for compensating the loss of land," the Court had remarked on August 7. Its comments came after the State informed that it had not made the payment in question yet as the rates were still to be determined.The Bench had eventually given time to the State till August 9 to file an affidavit. It had also warned that in case of failure to file a reply, the Chief Secretary of the State would be directed to remain present in court..During the hearing today, counsel for the Maharashtra government lamented the fact that the case was creating headlines in media."We are ready to pay but are facing difficulty; there is no Ready Reckoner Rate for defence land."The Bench, however, was not impressed.As the hearing drew to a close, Justice Gavai warned,"If you do not come with answers that day (August 28) then we will direct highest compensation under 2013 (Land Acquisition) Act. Do not wait for this order to be uploaded, it was passed in your presence.".Pertinently, the Supreme Court is seized of a plea by BJP leader and advocate, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, seeking regulation of 'freebies' promised by political parties in their election manifestoes.The Court had in October 2023 observed that all kinds of promises are made before elections and that courts cannot control such acts.