India, Feb. 20 -- The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday slammed announcement of freebies and subsidies ahead of elections and said it was time to revisit policies that hamper the country's economic development. Observing that the ultimate financial burden of such populist measures falls squarely on the shoulders of taxpayers, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant asked, "But this money which the State says it will pay now. Who will pay for it? This is taxpayers' money."

The observations were made during the hearing of a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL), which proposed to give free electricity to all irrespective of consumers paying capacity.

Tamil Nadu Government-owned TNP...