Electoral Bonds: The BJP-led central government is examining the Supreme Court verdict that struck down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional, said Union Minister of Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal. Subsequently, it will be decided if the judgment shall be challenged or not, he added, as per Hindustan Times.
"We are examining it," Meghwal was quoted as saying by HT in response to a query on whether the Centre plans on challenging the recent verdict on electoral bonds. The SC ruling came ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
On Thursday, a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud SC struck down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional in a unanimous verdict. The Supreme Court said that information about corporate contributors through Electoral Bonds must be disclosed as the donations by companies are purely for quid pro quo purposes.
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"Striking down of electoral bonds will not have any way to regulate the cash funding of political parties. Attempts to check black money in political funding will go for a toss. Will explore all options available with the govt for future course of action on electoral bonds," sources cited by news agency ANI said on Friday as Meghwal announced that the Centre was examining the apex court ruling.
While the Opposition parties hailed the apex court's decision, the BJP said that the scheme was brought in for transparency in electoral funding. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that it was proved that the BJP government had made Electoral Bonds as a medium of commission and corruption. Reacting to the judgment, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that on the day of the launching of the Electoral Bonds scheme in 2017, the Congress party had called it undemocratic.
(With inputs from ANI)