Today, On 12th July, Chief Justice of India agreed to consider listing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the Electoral Bond Scheme. The PIL raises concerns about the transparency and legality of the scheme.
New Delhi: A bench consisting of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra acknowledged lawyer Prashant Bhushan‘s concerns. Representing the NGOs, Bhushan mentioned that despite multiple visits to the Supreme Court registry in recent months, the petitions have not been scheduled for hearing.
The Chief Justice instructed,
“Please send an email,”
Bhushan replied that he had already sent several emails.
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The Chief Justice assured,
“Send one today. It will be listed,”
Describing the situation as a “scam,” the plea calls for an investigation into the funding sources of “shell companies and loss-making companies” that donated to various political parties, based on data released by the Election Commission (EC).
The petition also requested that authorities recover the money donated by companies as part of “quid pro quo arrangements,” where these funds are identified as proceeds of crime.
On February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench abolished the electoral bonds scheme for anonymous political funding, which had been introduced by the BJP government. Following the Supreme Court‘s decision, the State Bank of India (SBI), the authorized financial institution under the scheme, provided data to the Election Commission (EC), which subsequently made it public.
The electoral bonds scheme, announced by the government on January 2, 2018, intended to serve as an alternative to cash donations to political parties, aiming to enhance transparency in political funding.
The plea stated,
“The electoral bond scam involves a clear money trail, unlike the 2G spectrum allocation scam or the coal allocation scam. In those cases, there were arbitrary allocations of spectrum and coal mining leases without evidence of a money trail. Nevertheless, this court ordered court-monitored investigations, appointed special public prosecutors, and established special courts to handle those cases,”
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The petition further alleged that numerous firms currently under investigation by various agencies have made substantial donations to the ruling party, potentially aiming to influence the outcome of these probes.
The Supreme Court acknowledged the urgency of the matter and assured that the Chief Justice’s office will prioritize listing the PIL for an early hearing.