SC refuses stay on electoral bond plan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant interim stay on the 2018 Electoral Bonds Scheme, meant for funding political parties, ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls.

The Supreme Court Monday declined to stay electoral bonds saying that if it had not found it necessary to stay them earlier, it would not stay them now either. “If the matter has been argued for stay (earlier) and it was not granted, we will also not grant it," said Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, who headed the bench also comprising Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant.

The bench was hearing the petitioner, Association for Democratic Reforms (NGO), urge the court to stay the electoral bonds. Having declined to stay the electoral bonds, the court directed listing of the matter after two weeks and asked the Centre to file its response to the plea by the petitioner-NGO.

CJI Bobde’s observation came as lawyers Prashant Bhushan and Shadan Farasat sought to get the court to stay the scheme as new facts that had surfaced indicated that the electoral bond window was being opened often and the same was advantageous to the ruling party.

Advocate Bhushan told the court that instead of opening the electoral bond scheme during general elections as was originally envisaged, it had become a mechanism to funnel benami funds to political parties. Advocate Farasat said that about `6,000 crore had been drawn through the scheme.

The top court last year directed all political parties to disclose to the Election Commission in a sealed cover the details of the money they received through electoral bonds, including the identity of the donor entities.

The Election Commission in an affidavit in March 2019 told the Supreme Court that it had expressed reservations on the introduction of electoral bonds and the provision for their non-disclosure as the poll panel felt that would affect transparency and accountability of funding of political parties.