Electoral Bonds Scam: Petition in SC demanding court-monitored SIT
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) for a court monitored SIT into the Electoral Bonds Scam.
Bhopal: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) for a court monitored SIT into the Electoral Bonds Scam.
Petitioner Anjali Bhardwaj, who is also a member of the Common Cause, and her advocate, Prashant Bhushan, a renowned lawyer of the Supreme Court, informed during a joint press conference here in Bhopal.
'Biggest Scam in India'
Both of them claimed that the Electoral Bond is the biggest scam in the nation and requires a thorough investigation by an independent body. They alleged that companies that gave money to political parties through electoral bonds either received huge projects or the investigation against them (in any case) went into the back-burner.
The data shows that Rs 12,155.1 crore worth of electoral bonds were purchased by corporate groups, companies, and individuals, and Rs 12,769.08 crore worth of electoral bonds were cashed by political parties since April 12, 2019. The BJP was the biggest beneficiary of Electoral Bonds.
'Quid Pro Quo'
Apprehending that investigative agencies were used as a mask to extort the money, they said the analysis of the data indicates possible corruption and illegality that needs further investigation by a court-monitored SIT.
Meanwhile, details of the Electoral Bonds that were put in the public domain subsequent to the historic judgement of the Supreme Court reveal trends that suggest large scale quid pro quo.
The data shows that companies which received huge projects donated large sums of money through bonds to the ruling parties in close proximity of getting the projects.
In addition to potential kickbacks, the data suggests regulatory inaction on companies that donated through electoral bonds and reveals potential money laundering, with loss making and shell companies donating funds to political parties.
'Extortion'
Further, the data exposes cases of possible extortion, involving agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED), CBI and the IT department. The Electoral Bonds Scam is potentially the biggest corruption scam in the country, which requires a thorough probe by an independent body, they said.
It may be pointed out here that in a landmark verdict on February 15, 2024, the Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme as unconstitutional and stopped further sale of electoral bonds. The SC held that anonymous electoral bonds (EBs) violate voter’s fundamental right to information guaranteed under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution.
The five-judge Bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud also struck down the amendments made to various laws to bring in the instrument of electoral bonds. Changes were made to Representation of the Peoples Act, the Companies Act, and the Income Tax Act, to allow for complete anonymity to the donor by exempting donations received by parties through electoral bonds from reporting requirements.
The amendments to the Companies Act also did away with the clause which allowed companies to donate only 7.5% of the average net profits in the preceding three financial years. Various authorities, including the RBI and the ECI, flagged the dangers of the electoral bond scheme highlighting that it would adversely impact transparency, increase money laundering and black money in the system, and lead to funding through shell companies.
Documents accessed under the RTI Act showed that the government ignored these concerns and went ahead with the scheme, claiming that donor anonymity and purchase of bonds through banking channels would lead to curbing of black money in political party funding. The court rejected these arguments noting that electoral bonds could be traded for a consideration without any trail of the transactions, and the original buyer may not be the ultimate contributor as the scheme failed to provide any regulatory check to prevent such trading.
In its historic verdict, the SC directed the disclosure of details of all bonds sold and redeemed. The SBI’s attempt to delay disclosure of crucial information, which would allow tracking of donations through bonds, was rejected by the Supreme Court. Finally, details of all electoral bonds purchased and encashed since April 12, 2019 were made public, including the unique bond number, enabling the tracking and matching of donors to the parties which encashed the bonds.
Meanwhile, the BJP intends to bring back Electoral Bonds in some form after consultation with all stakeholders if the party comes back to power in the 2024 General Elections, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reportedly said.
“What Electoral Bonds brought in was transparency. What prevailed earlier was just free-for-all. We still have a lot of consultation to do with stakeholders. We have to see what we have to do to make or bring in a framework that will be acceptable to all, primarily retain the level of transparency and remove black money from the equation”, Sitharaman said in an interview with a newspaper.
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