Supreme Court to hear petition challenging electoral bond on April 10
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court will hear petitionchallenging the electoral bond scheme on April 10, a day before Lok Sabha polls begin.
Last week, CPI(M), along with NGO Common Cause, filed a petition in the court calling the electoral bond scheme an ''obscure funding system'' unchecked by authorities.
Appearing for the petitioners, senior lawyer Prashanth Bhushan said, “95 per cent of the electoral bonds sold so far have been for the ruling party and this will have a serious impact on elections.”
The petition further stated that most electoral bonds bought since its introduction by the central government has been in the denominations of 10 lakh to 1 crore Indian rupees, hence would be considered corporate funding.
The scheme grants complete anonymity to the donor (The identity of the donor is known only to the bank, which is any case is kept anonymous) and the funds are being used to influence policy decisions, the petitioner added.
Electoral bonds were introduced by amendments made through the finance act 2017 to the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934, Representation of Peoples Act 1951, Income Tax Act 1962 and Companies Act.
In January last year, Modi government notified the scheme, which is in nature of bearer instruments like a promissory note capable of being purchased by an Indian citizen or a body based in India.
These electoral bonds can be purchased from an authorised bank and can be issued to a political party. The political party can encash the bond within 15 days.