When you get to power, you'll do same thing: SC junks Jan Suraaj's plea to set-aside 2025 Bihar Poll results

New Delhi [India], February 6 : The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea filed by Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party seeking to set aside the entire 2025 Bihar Assembly election results on the ground that it was won "illegally by distributing Rs. 15,600 crores of cash to voters."
A bench led by CJI Surya Kant said that the petitioners have the liberty to approach the High Court with the same relief.
"We can't issue a notice like this. There is a procedure. It is just a composite election petition. Because you lost the elections, you say to set aside the entire election result. What is this view of a political party that has lost everything in the election, then you want to come here? Even that issue (on welfare policies), we won't like to have a political party before us. It must be some public-spirited person. Because if we entertain this, if this party gets to power, they will do the same thing," the CJI remarked during the hearing.
During the hearing, counsel representing Jan Suraaj attempted to convince the Court that the ruling dispensation had disturbed the level playing field by announcing and implementing a welfare scheme during the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The counsel argued that Bihar is a fiscally stressed and indebted state and that paying nearly Rs. 15,500-15,600 crore without budgetary support amounted to adding debt.
"This has disturbed the level playing field. In a fiscal deficit state, one of the most indebted states, paying Rs. 15,500 crores without budgetary support is unconstitutional," the counsel submitted.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi, however, questioned the nature of the challenge and observed that there was a clear distinction between a legal constitutional issue and the wisdom of a government's fiscal or economic policy.
"There is a difference between a legal constitutional question and the wisdom of the government in following a fiscal or economic policy. That is for the people to decide through voting," Justice Bagchi said.
The Court also noted that the petition sought to declare the entire election null and void on the basis of alleged irregularities in a welfare scheme.
"If someone was aggrieved, they should have challenged the scheme itself if it was wrong. You cannot declare the entire election null and void," the Bench observed, adding, "If people reject you, you choose to seek judicial intervention."
The petition filed by the party alleges that the then Bihar government, under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, deliberately added additional recipients in the "Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana" before announcing the Rs 10,000 Direct Benefit Transfer after the election dates were set. The party claims that this, in itself, "amply demonstrates corrupt practice adopted to unduly allure and influence the electors to vote in favour of the ruling government."
"That just before the General Assembly Elections of Bihar in 2025, the then Government of Bihar, through a Cabinet decision, launched a state-wide scheme for women known as "Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana" wherein the Government of Bihar decided to provide financial help, through Direct Benefit Transfer to one woman in every family by paying Rs.10,000/- to start self-employment. It was further stated that a sum of Rs. 2,00,000/- will also be paid subsequently to every woman post assessment," the party's petition read.
"As per the newspaper reports dated November 28, 2025, the total beneficiaries paid under the scheme was said to be 1.56 Crores implying that new beneficiaries were added during MCC/ Election process and the said beneficiaries were paid post the announcement of election schedule and during subsistence of MCC which in itself, amply demonstrates corrupt practice adopted to unduly allure and influence the electors to vote in favour of the ruling government," it added.
The party has alleged that using the contingency Fund of Bihar for the scheme, instead of passing legislation for the scheme, amounts to a violation of Article 267 of the Constitution.
"It is most respectfully submitted that the Scheme in reference was introduced on the eve of elections by a Cabinet decision without any legislative sanction and as per information of the petitioner, the budget for the Scheme was withdrawn from the Contingency Fund of the State of Bihar. Hence, the said Scheme was not part of the regular budgetary allocation, rather was withdrawn from the Contingency Fund of the State, which is in violation of Article 267 of the Constitution of India," Jan Suraaj's petition read.
In the assembly elections, the ruling NDA got 202 seats, a three-fourths majority in the 243-member House. This is the second time the NDA has crossed the 200-mark in the assembly polls. In the 2010 polls, it had won 206 seats.
Mahagathbandhan got just 35 seats with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) winning 25 seats, Congress 6, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) - CPI(ML)(L) - two, Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) - one and Communist Party of India (Marxist) - CPI(M) one seat.
While All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won five seats, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got one seat.