The Supreme Court will hear a petition on July 22 seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into alleged transactions between political parties, corporates, and officials through electoral bonds. The petition, filed by NGO Common Cause, alleges a multi-crore scam in election donations made through electoral bonds and seeks a court-supervised SIT investigation.
The petition claims that data on electoral bonds issued reveals most corporates donated to political parties for profit or to avoid action by central investigating agencies. It also alleges that fake and loss-making companies donated to political parties, which should be recovered from the parties.
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The Supreme Court had earlier struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme in February, deeming it unconstitutional for allowing anonymous political donations. The scheme, launched by the NDA government, violated voters’ right to information under Article 19(1)(A) of the Constitution.
Following the court’s order, the State Bank of India (SBI) submitted details of electoral bond transactions to the Election Commission, revealing the unique numbers of the bonds and the political parties that encashed them. The affidavit filed by the SBI Chairman on March 21 brought to light the details of bond buyers, including serial numbers, dates of purchase, bond numbers, values, issuing branches, and recipients.
The hearing on July 22 expect to shed more light on the allege scam and the need for a comprehensive investigation.
