On Tuesday, the supreme court said that decisions will be made regarding the petitions questioning about the electoral bonds before the commencement of 2024 general elections. Electoral bonds are banking tools that provide corporations, business firms and public individuals to give donations for political parties without revealing any identity. These petitions claim that these bonds have contributed towards political corruption.
The bench constituted Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra who approved to schedule a hearing for a set of petitions on October 31. The parties promised to finish these discussions within two days.
The judge’s decision is drawing for an appealing legal confrontation. R Venkataramani, the government’s attorney general, specified that the government is ready to tell the court that these instruments guarantee transparency in funding. He also said that the source of funds must be disclosed to the State Bank of India even if the identity of the donor is unknown.
Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Shadan Farasat said that the NDA government initiated electoral bonds which let big companies to fund huge money to the political parties despite the RBI and Election commission had concerns about it. Bhushan quoted that to maintain transparency, people should be aware about the donations made to the political parties.
The Union government in it’s previous hearing, represented by Tushar Mehta said that the means of funds received through electoral bonds is clear that it is making impossible for the political parties to receive hidden or illegal funds as donations.
The petitioners are claiming that the electoral bonds are fake and it has a negative impact on the elections. They also say that the government allowed foreign company subsidiaries and public servants to give money to the political parties which is harming the elections. Each time the electoral bonds were used, the supreme court made some temporary rules and it also refused to stop the issuance of new electoral bonds in 2021 and 2019.
Electoral bonds are offered for the purchase in January, April, July and October for 10 days each year under the clause 8(1). The government had said that the Supreme Court instructed political parties to share their electoral bond donation details in a sealed cover and submit it to the Election Commission which tries to reduce the possibility of illegal money going to the political parties. However the Election Commission also supported the use of electoral bonds.
