The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will hear petitions on July 22 seeking an investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into alleged quid pro quo arrangements between corporates and political parties through Electoral Bonds donations. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, agreed to the hearing after advocate Prashant Bhushan requested an early date.
The petitions, filed by NGOs Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), call for an investigation into the funding sources of shell companies and loss-making companies that have donated to political parties via electoral bonds. They also seek the recovery of these amounts from political parties if they are found to be proceeds of crime.
The petitioners allege a multi-crore scam involving Electoral Bonds, which they argue can only be exposed through an independent investigation overseen by the Supreme Court. They request an SIT probe supervised by a retired Supreme Court judge to unravel conspiracies involving company officers, government officials, and political party functionaries, along with officers from agencies like the ED, IT, and CBI.
The plea highlights that disclosed data, following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the anonymous Electoral Bonds scheme, shows that many bonds were part of quid pro quo arrangements by corporates to secure government contracts, licenses, protection from investigations, or favorable policy changes. Additionally, several pharmaceutical companies under regulatory scrutiny for substandard drugs also bought Electoral Bonds, allegedly violating the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
In a February verdict, the Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme, which allowed for anonymous donations to political parties, and ordered the SBI to stop issuing Electoral Bonds immediately. The court also nullified amendments to the Income Tax Act and the Representation of People Act that had permitted anonymous donations.
