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Supreme Court to hear petitions demanding SIT probe into electoral bond scheme on July 22
The petitions claimed that the EB data showed that the bulk of these were given as “quid pro quo” arrangements by corporates to political parties.
The Supreme Court on July 22 will hear a batch of petitions demanding 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 top court on February 15.
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.
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A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously struck down the electoral bond scheme as ‘unconstitutional’ on February 15. The apex court ruled that the scheme violates Article 19 of the Constitution by failing to disclose the funding to political parties.
Consequently, the SC also invalidated provisions in the Companies Act, Income Tax Act, and Representation of the People Act related to electoral bonds. As a result of this ruling, the State Bank of India (SBI), which was mandated to issue such bonds was ordered to cease issuing them immediately.
In the data released, there were 1,260 companies and individuals that purchased electoral bonds worth ₹12,769 crore. The top 20, all companies, accounted for ₹5,945 crore—or nearly half of the total amount donated through electoral bonds.
