SC to hear plea against sale of electoral bonds ahead of Assembly elections on March 24

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on March 24 a plea of NGO 'Association For Democratic Reforms' for restraining authorities from allowing the sale of fresh electoral bonds ahead of Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said it would hear the matter on Wednesday as advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, mentioned the matter for urgent hearing.

Bhushan contended that a new set of electoral bonds is to be issued from April for upcoming elections.

"We need an urgent hearing of the case. We are seeking a stay on the fresh issuing of electoral bonds. Two documents from RBI and Election Commission say these bonds are very detrimental to our democracy," Bhushan contended.

The plea of the NGO sought an urgent hearing of the case saying the sale of fresh electoral bonds should be stopped till the top court decided the three pending petitions challenging Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 which granted anonymity to donors to political parties.

Last week, the NGO moved the court against the opening of windows for the sale of Electoral Bonds before forthcoming Assembly polls in five states.

It contended that there is a serious apprehension that any further sale of Electoral Bonds before the upcoming state elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies.

The Finance Ministry on January 2, 2018, notified the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018. As per the scheme, an electoral bond is a bond issued in the nature of a promissory note, it may be purchased by a person who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India. The bonds are issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, 10,000, one lakh, 10 lakhs and 1 crore.

The petitioner asked the court to restrain the authorities from further selling the Electoral Bonds during the pendency of the petition against its validity. It maintained that the Electoral Bonds Scheme has opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate donations to political parties and anonymous financing by Indian as well as foreign companies which can have serious repercussions on the Indian democracy.