The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the sale of fresh set of electoral bonds from April 1 to April 10, during the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, and the union territory of Puducherry.
The court said that the bonds, introduced under a scheme in 2018, have been issued periodically "with no impediment". A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde said that in April last year interim orders were passed by the court directing political parties to submit receipts of electoral bonds to EC in a sealed cover. This was held by the court of being a sufficient safeguard.
The apex court’s order came on an application moved by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which had requested the court to restrain sales of these bonds ahead of the assembly elections. The ADR claimed that bonds should not be issued as “it legalised bribery by companies to political parties”.
The Election Commission of India, however, backed the sale of bonds but raised concerns over its transparency. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for EC said, “The Commission is supporting electoral bonds and not opposing it. If we don’t support it we will go into a pre-existing system of receiving donations through cash. Electoral bonds goes one step forward as all bonds have to be obtained from the bank only. This way there is accountability. But we are also asking for transparency. That can be considered later by the Court.”
{{/usCountry}}The Election Commission of India, however, backed the sale of bonds but raised concerns over its transparency. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for EC said, “The Commission is supporting electoral bonds and not opposing it. If we don’t support it we will go into a pre-existing system of receiving donations through cash. Electoral bonds goes one step forward as all bonds have to be obtained from the bank only. This way there is accountability. But we are also asking for transparency. That can be considered later by the Court.”
{{/usCountry}}The court had reserved the order in the case on March 24 after hearing arguments from all the parties.
During the hearing, the Attorney General of India KK Venugopal assured the court that funds received through electoral bonds were white money that could only be issued through cheque and demand draft, and for which Know Your Customer (KYC) norms had to be followed, according to news agency PTI.
Meanwhile, advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for ADR, cited a letter written by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Shaktikanta Das, which states that the electoral bond scheme was fraught with risk and would impact India's financial system. PTI reported. He was also quoted as saying that the RBI raised serious objections and said this will facilitate money laundering through shell company.