From April 1, according to the Supreme Court, new electoral bonds will be issued. The decision was based on the Election Commission’s statement that the instrument is appropriate because without it political parties will have to trade in currency. The poll council, on the other hand, stated that it is eager to increase transparency in bond transactions.
“The electoral bonds scheme introduced in 2018 and the bonds have been sold since then without impediment. We do not see any reason to stay the issuance at this stage,” the court said today.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental body that focuses on voting and constitutional reforms, had petitioned the court for a provisional halt to the selling of electoral bonds planned for April 1 to April 10. Its petition requested that bond sales be halted until issues about political party financing and account disclosure are resolved. It fuelled concerns that front companies would be used to fill political coffers ahead of upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, and other states.
Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for ADR, claimed that the instrument had devolved into a mechanism for accepting bribes disguised as contributions from the ruling party. He also mentioned the Reserve Bank of India’s reservations. Mr. Bhushan argued that the RBI has stated that this bond scheme is a form of weapon or platform for financial scams.
He went on to state that the bonds showed the government’s true attitude toward black currency, not just its official position.
The court, on the other hand, referred to such concerns by stating that such transactions benefit all, not only the governing party. Mr. Bhushan’s claims come across as more relevant to the instrument’s political morality, according to Chief Justice Sharad A Bobde. The Chief Justice questioned, “Hasn’t the Supreme Court already been through those arguments?”
Mr. Bhushan responded that it was about “democratic morality,” not “political morality.”
“This would not happen somewhere else on the planet. It (the electoral bond) is a bribery instrument for the administration. So much so that the Election Commission has no idea who has offered how much to which political party. Only the State Bank of India and the government are aware of this “he said
