The Supreme Court is set to consider a plea for the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe alleged quid-pro-quo arrangements under the Electoral Bonds Scheme on Monday. This plea, along with other similar petitions, will be reviewed by the bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the matter before the bench, noting that the plea for an SIT investigation was scheduled for Monday. He also requested that another related petition, which was filed later and listed for hearing today, be clubbed with the main petition.
CJI Chandrachud assured Bhushan that all related cases concerning the Electoral Bonds Scheme would be addressed on Monday, stating, “We will take the entire group on Monday.”
The primary petition, filed in April, calls for an SIT to investigate alleged quid-pro-quo arrangements between corporations and political parties facilitated through donations made via Electoral Bonds. This development follows the Supreme Court’s decision to declare the Electoral Bonds Scheme unconstitutional and a violation of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The decision raised concerns about transparency and fairness, directing the State Bank of India to stop issuing further bonds and to publicly disclose transactions from April 12, 2019. Complying with this directive, the Election Commission of India uploaded the Electoral Bonds data on its website on March 14.
The petitioner argued that the disclosed data revealed that most bonds appeared to be given as quid-pro-quo by corporations to political parties for securing government contracts, protection from investigations, or favourable policy changes.
The petition, filed by NGOs Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), alleges a scam involving crores of rupees that can only be uncovered through an independent investigation monitored by the Supreme Court.
The key reliefs sought by the petitioners include:
- A court-monitored SIT investigation into instances of apparent quid-pro-quo between public servants, political parties, commercial organisations, companies, officials of investigative agencies, and others.
- Direction to authorities to investigate the funding sources of shell companies and loss-making companies donating to political parties.
- Direction to recover amounts donated by companies to political parties as part of quid-pro-quo arrangements where these are found to be proceeds of crime.
A subsequent petition also challenges the legitimacy of funds received by political parties through the Electoral Bond Scheme. It seeks directives for the Union, Election Commission of India, and Central Vigilance Commission to confiscate the amounts received under the scheme and requests the formation of a committee led by a former Supreme Court judge to investigate the alleged illegal benefits provided to donors by major political parties.
These petitions will be heard on Monday, July 22.
