The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked what a "freebie" really means, among other observations, during a hearing in which it asked political parties to give their responses, reports ndtv.com.

The Centre, however, argued against freebies also known as 'revdi' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it stated, "We are not opposed to socialism but if social welfare means distributing everything for free... then it's an immature understanding of the term."

The conflict has been triggered by a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, who is a BJP loyalist.

He is strictly against the practice of political parties promising free services and appeals to the Election Commission to cancel such parties' registration.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice Krishna Murari, has set the next hearing for Monday after asking all those who are party to the case to make written submissions.

"Some say political parties cannot be prevented from making promises to the voters... Now, it has to be defined what is freebie," the bench observed.

"(Can) universal healthcare, access to drinking water be treated as freebies?" the bench added, giving examples of "schemes like MNREGA, which gives dignity of living".

Promises alone cannot be the basis of parties being elected, the court elaborated.

On Tuesday, DMK asked the court to make it a party to the case, adding that the area of the term "freebie" is wide and "there are a lot of aspects which need to be considered". Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, has also challenged the petition's stance.