SC to Hear Petitions Challenging Electoral Bonds Scheme on 2 April

The petitions challenge the changes made to the laws on the disclosure of political donations.

The Supreme Court will soon hear arguments about the constitutionality of the electoral bonds scheme.

(Image: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 26 March, said it will hear on 2 April the petitions challenging the constitutionality of electoral bonds scheme. The scheme came into force on 2 January last year.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.

The bench told advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of the petitioners, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO, that the matter would be heard by an appropriate bench on 2 April.

The petition filed by ADR and Common Cause in the apex court argued that the scheme is “unconstitutional, illegal and void.”

‘A Negative Effect on Democracy’

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) – CPI(M) – also filed a petition against the scheme in 2018, in which they say that the scheme encourages corruption and removes safeguards meant to ensure transparency in electoral funding.

The petitions against electoral bonds are not only about the bonds themselves.

The petitions also challenge the changes made to the laws on the disclosure of political donations in the Representation of People Act of 1951, Companies Act 2013, Income Tax Act 1961 and the RBI Act 1934. Most of these changes were made in the Finance Act of 2017.

Both petitions point out the big-picture consequences of these amendments, which they argue will have a negative effect on Indian democracy.

The Centre, on 14 March, had filed an affidavit in the apex court in which it has argued that the scheme actually promotes transparency, and keeping donors anonymous is for their benefit.

The Election Commission is said to reiterate the red flags it raised on the scheme in 2017. It had raised concerns about electoral bonds that have become perhaps the largest funding for political parties, The Economic Times reported.

(With inputs from The Economic Times.)