NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Jutice of India on Tuesday agreed to list for hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) challenging the electoral bond scheme for funding the political parties, though no date yet fixed for the hearing.Activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan pressed for an urgent hearing before a Bench which also comprised Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.Bhushan referred to a media report that a Kolkata-based company paid Rs 40 crore to ensure that there is no excise raid on it. This distorts democracy, he said.
On his contention that the urgent listing was also prayed earlier, the CJI said: “Were it not for Covid, I would have heard all of this already.”
Bhushan had earlier sought an urgent listing on October 4 last year, seeking a direction to the Centre not to open any further window for the sale of electoral bonds during the pendency of the case due to alleged lack of transparency in the parties’ accounts.
The NGO, which keeps an eye on the criminal candidates of various parties, had filed the PIL back in 2017 on the alleged corruption and subversion of democacy through illicit and foreign funding of political parties. It had also moved an interim application in March last year before the Assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam to stop sale of the electoral bonds, claiming that the political parties are funded illegally through shell companies.
It had alleged that the ruling party had received more than 60% of total electoral bonds in the audit of the parties in two years of 2017-18 and 2018-19.
On January 20 last year, the apex court had refused to stay 2018 electoral bonds notified by the government on January 2 that year. The NGO noted that even the Election Commission and the Reserve Bank of India had in 2017 objected to the electoral bonds, advising against their issue as a mode of donation to the political parties.
The NGO contended that almost 99% of the bonds are purchased in th denominations of Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 lakh, which only shows that it is not the individuals but large corporations are buying them to receive kickbacks from the government.
It said the laws allow unlimited political conations, even from foreign countries, and thereby legitimising the electoral corruption at a huge scale.
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