Ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Supreme Court to begin final hearing on challenge to Electoral Bonds Scheme on October 31
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, October 10
Ahead of the 2024 general election, the Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to take up petitions challenging the Electoral Bonds Scheme for final hearing on October 31 after petitioners chose not to argue on the scheme being passed as a Money Bill.
At the outset, Attorney General for India R Venkatramani told a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud that one of the issues raised in the petitions against the Electoral Bonds was the issue relating to the Money Bill which was pending before a seven-judge Constitution Bench.
The CJI asked petitioners’ advocates if they would like to wait for it to be decided or press for hearing without arguing the point relating to the Money Bill.
On behalf of the petitioners, advocate Prashant Bhushan said while the Money Bill was one of the issues raised in the petitions, there were other issues to be decided independent of the Money Bill.
Contending that a corruption-free society was a facet of right to life under Article 21 (right to life and liberty), Bhushan said anonymous funding of political parties violated the Right to Information of the citizens as it promoted corruption by allowing companies benefiting from the government of certain parties to anonymously donate to those political parties.
After the petitioners’ advocates, including Bhushan, said they would like the matter to be heard without arguing on the Money Bill issue in view of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the CJI posted the matter for final hearing on October 31 as the pre-hearing procedural formalities had already been completed.
Directing that further submissions, if any, should be filed by Saturday, the Bench made it clear that if the hearing remained incomplete on October 31 it would continue till November 1.
The issue assumes significance in view of upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana; and the 2024 general election.
An Electoral Bond is a bearer instrument like a Promissory Note which can be purchased by an Indian citizen or an Indian company whose identity would remain secret from everybody except the SBI from whom it has to be purchased. Once purchased, the buyer can give it to a political party, which can encash it using its bank account.
It was introduced through the Finance Act, 2017, which made amendments to several statutes, including the RBI Act, Representation of People Act, Income Tax Act and Companies Act to facilitate the scheme which was notified on January 2, 2018.
The Centre maintained that the electoral bonds scheme was an “absolutely transparent” mode of political funding and it was impossible to get any black or unaccounted money through it.
The top court had on March 21 this year said it would examine if petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme for funding of political parties needed to be referred to a Constitutional Bench for an “authoritative pronouncement”.
Maintaining that several constitutional issues having a tremendous bearing on the sanctity of electoral process were involved in the petitions challenging the validity of Electoral Bonds Scheme, ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADRA) had earlier urged the Supreme Court to refer the matter to a Constitution Bench.
In its PIL filed in 2017, ADR alleged corruption and subversion of democracy through illicit and foreign funding of political parties and lack of transparency in their accounts.
On March 26, 2021, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the sale of electoral bonds ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, saying, “We do not see any justification for the grant of stay at this stage.”
