Electoral Bond Scheme: Supreme Court To Hear Petitions Demanding SIT Probe On July 22

By Nidhi Giri
Fri, 19 Jul 2024 11:45 AM (IST)
Source:JND

Electoral Bond Scheme: The Supreme Court on July 22 will hear petitions asking for a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under judicial supervision into an alleged scam in electoral financing using electoral bonds (EBs), which was scrapped by the apex court on February 15, 2024.

The petitions claimed that the electoral bond data which was released on the orders of the Supreme Court showed that the bulk of these were given as “quid pro quo” arrangements by corporates to political parties either for fiscal gains or for avoiding actions by central agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax department.

“The data shows private companies have paid crores of funds to political parties either as ‘protection money’ for protection against agencies under the central government or as a ‘bribe’ in return for undue benefits. In some instances, it has been seen that the political parties in power at the Centre or in states have apparently amended policies and/or laws to provide benefits to private corporates at the cost of public interest and the public exchequer,” alleged a petitioner.

The Electoral Bond Scheme was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on Februrary 15, citing constitutional violations of the right to information and the freedom of speech and expression. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud delivered two separate but unanimous verdicts on pleas challenging the scheme. Pronouncing the verdict, the CJI said the scheme is violative of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

About Electoral Bonds

Electoral bonds are money instruments that act as promissory notes or bearer bonds that are issued specifically for the contribution of funds to the political parties. As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds can be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India.

SBI Authorised To Issue And Encash Electoral Bonds

The Government of India has authorised the SBI to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches. In answer to an RTI request last year, the State Bank of India stated that since the Electoral Bond Scheme's launch in 2018, 27,133, or 55.9 per cent, of the printed electoral bonds valued at Rs 15,956.3096 crore, have been sold in 29 tranches, according to HT.