SC expected to pronounce verdict on validity of electoral bonds today

A three-member Supreme Court bench is expected to pronounce on Friday its verdict on the validity of the electoral bonds scheme introduced by the Narendra Modi government.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, is expected to pronounce its verdict by 10.30am on Friday. The Supreme Court had conducted hearings on the matter on Thursday following a plea by an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). ADR had challenged the validity of electoral bonds in the Supreme Court and demanded it be stayed or modified to ensure name of donors to political parties be made known for the sake of transparency.

During the hearings on Thursday, the Supreme Court bench had observed if the names of purchasers of electoral bonds were not known, then the efforts of the government to curtail black money in electioneering “would be futile”. Arguing for the Modi government, Advocate General K.K. Venugopal had declared the purpose of electoral bonds was to eliminate use of black money in elections and had asked the Supreme Court not to interfere with the scheme at this stage.

Venugopal had stated the electoral bonds could be purchased through “proper” banking channels such as use of cheques, demand drafts and electronic transfer. Venugopal told the Supreme Court that while banks had knowledge of identities of people who purchased the electoral bonds, they would not know which bonds were issued to which party. Venugopal said the anonymity of donors of electoral bonds is to be maintained for various reasons such as fear of repercussions on a firm or an individual if the other political party or group wins.

The Modi government had formally notified the electoral bonds scheme in January 2018.