SC refuses to stay sale of electoral bonds

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 26

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the sale of electoral bonds ahead of the ensuing Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

"Since the electoral bonds were allowed to be released in 2018, 2019 and 2020 without interruption, and sufficient safeguards are there, we do not see any reason to stay the issuance at this stage, a Bench led by CJI SA Bobde said, dismissing an application filed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) seeking an interim ban on sale of electoral bonds.

The Supreme Court had on Wednesday reserved its order on ADR's plea seeking to restrain the authorities from opening any further window for sale of electoral bonds in view of the ensuing Assembly polls.

The Centre and the Election Commission had opposed the ADR’s plea even as the petitioner NGO’s counsel Prashant Bhushan demanded a stay on sale of anonymous electoral bonds, terming it legalised corruption which paved the way for shell companies to offer bribes.

Expressing concern over possible misuse of electoral bonds, the Bench had asked the Centre to examine it. "If a political party gets Rs 100 crore worth bonds what is the control over the use of these bonds for illegal activities or purposes outside political agenda," it asked.

On behalf of the Centre, Attorney General KK Venugopal had defended it saying that after the electoral bonds scheme was launched in 2018, black money in elections had been kept under check as these bonds could be purchased only through cheques or demand drafts.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the Election Commission, had opposed the plea for stay on electoral bonds, saying it was one step ahead of unaccounted cash system. He, however, said the EC wanted transparency in the electoral bonds scheme.

Citing ensuing Assembly polls, ADR had on March 9 moved the Supreme Court seeking urgent hearing of its PIL challenging the Electoral Bonds Scheme for funding political parties.

Contending that there was a serious apprehension that further sale of electoral bonds before the upcoming state Assembly elections would further increase “illegal and illicit funding” of political parties through shell companies, the NGO demanded that no further opening of window for the sale of electoral bonds be allowed during the pendency of its petition.

The PIL has been pending for the last two years and the RBI and Election Commission had said that illicit monies were being transacted, the NGO had submitted.

A similar plea was filed by ADR in October last year ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls that were held in November 2020.

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