New Delhi, Feb. 13 -- On political parties promising freebies ahead of polls, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday said instead of bringing people into the mainstream for national development, Aare we not creating a class of parasites?". A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih said it would be better to make people a part of the society's mainstream and contribute towards national development.

"Rather than promoting them to be a part of the mainstream of the society by contributing to the development of the nation, are we not creating a class of parasites?" it asked. Justice Gavai went on to add, "Unfortunately, because of these freebies, which just on the anvil of elections, are declared, like 'Ladki Bahin' and other sche...