Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved the pleas challenging the validity of Centre’s electoral bond scheme, directing the Election Commission to provide within two weeks all data on donations that political parties received through the scheme till September 30 this year.
A five-judge constitution led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties should not become a tool for “legitimisation of quid pro quo” between power centres and people who are benefactors of that power, stressing the need for reducing the cash component in the electoral process.
After hearing for three days on the pleas against the Centre’s scheme introduced in 2017, the bench also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) among others.
READ MORE | Electoral bonds: Selective anonymity may lead to victimisation, says SC
During the hearing, the bench also said, at this stage, the bench will not ask the State Bank of India to reveal the identity of the donors but it would like to know about the quantum of bonds subscribed.
A major contention of the petitions against the scheme was that the identity of the donors could never be known to the public.
On Wednesday, the bench had said the scheme “provide (only) selective anonymity… confidentiality” as its purchase records are available with the SBI and can be accessed by investigative agencies.
The bench, on Thursday, asked the EC to provide the updated data on the scheme in a “sealed cover”, in line with a 2019 order of the top court.
It was noted by the apex court that the 2019 order was not restrictive to the date on which it was pronounced, and if there was any ambiguity, the poll panel needed to seek clarification from the court.
Defending the Centre, Solicitor General of India (SG) Tushar Mehta had told the apex court that donations made through electoral bonds are kept anonymous to protect the privacy and political affiliation of the citizens who make such donations to political parties.
“Every word was very consciously used and what the petitioners have called “anonymity or opaqueness” was neither anonymous nor opaque but was “confidentiality by design,” he had argued.
The bench asked the EC’s counsel about the quantum of electoral bonds that have been subscribed to and he said he had some data in compliance with the earlier court order and he can place it. As the court asked whether it’s updated or not, the counsel said, the details are not updated after 2019.
“You have to continue to collect the data,” the bench said, adding, that the EC never came back to the court for clarification if there was any doubt regarding the earlier directive.
“You should have got the data when you were coming to the court… That day we had emphasised and all of us had expressed the view and we expected you to come back with the data,” the bench told the EC’s counsel.
The counsel said he can provide the data and the EC can seek details from all political parties. The counsel informed the court the data was to be given six months after a financial year was over.
“You ought to have the data. You will have the total quantum of electoral bonds and what is the bifurcation between different political parties,” it told the EC’s counsel, who said the poll panel will have to collate that.
“File the data as of March 31, 2023 and submit it to us. You can even give us the data till September 30, 2023,” the bench told the lawyer. Follow channel on WhatsApp
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved the pleas challenging the validity of Centre’s electoral bond scheme, directing the Election Commission to provide within two weeks all data on donations that political parties received through the scheme till September 30 this year.
A five-judge constitution led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties should not become a tool for “legitimisation of quid pro quo” between power centres and people who are benefactors of that power, stressing the need for reducing the cash component in the electoral process.
After hearing for three days on the pleas against the Centre’s scheme introduced in 2017, the bench also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) among others.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
READ MORE | Electoral bonds: Selective anonymity may lead to victimisation, says SC
During the hearing, the bench also said, at this stage, the bench will not ask the State Bank of India to reveal the identity of the donors but it would like to know about the quantum of bonds subscribed.
A major contention of the petitions against the scheme was that the identity of the donors could never be known to the public.
On Wednesday, the bench had said the scheme “provide (only) selective anonymity… confidentiality” as its purchase records are available with the SBI and can be accessed by investigative agencies.
The bench, on Thursday, asked the EC to provide the updated data on the scheme in a “sealed cover”, in line with a 2019 order of the top court.
It was noted by the apex court that the 2019 order was not restrictive to the date on which it was pronounced, and if there was any ambiguity, the poll panel needed to seek clarification from the court.
Defending the Centre, Solicitor General of India (SG) Tushar Mehta had told the apex court that donations made through electoral bonds are kept anonymous to protect the privacy and political affiliation of the citizens who make such donations to political parties.
“Every word was very consciously used and what the petitioners have called “anonymity or opaqueness” was neither anonymous nor opaque but was “confidentiality by design,” he had argued.
The bench asked the EC’s counsel about the quantum of electoral bonds that have been subscribed to and he said he had some data in compliance with the earlier court order and he can place it. As the court asked whether it’s updated or not, the counsel said, the details are not updated after 2019.
“You have to continue to collect the data,” the bench said, adding, that the EC never came back to the court for clarification if there was any doubt regarding the earlier directive.
“You should have got the data when you were coming to the court… That day we had emphasised and all of us had expressed the view and we expected you to come back with the data,” the bench told the EC’s counsel.
The counsel said he can provide the data and the EC can seek details from all political parties.
The counsel informed the court the data was to be given six months after a financial year was over.
“You ought to have the data. You will have the total quantum of electoral bonds and what is the bifurcation between different political parties,” it told the EC’s counsel, who said the poll panel will have to collate that.
“File the data as of March 31, 2023 and submit it to us. You can even give us the data till September 30, 2023,” the bench told the lawyer. Follow channel on WhatsApp
