31 Oct 2023 4:45 AM GMT2023-10-31 04:45:43
The Supreme Court will start hearing today a batch of petitions challenging the electoral bonds scheme.
A Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will hear the matter.
The case involves a batch of petitions challenging the amendments introduced by the Finance Act 2017 paving the way for the anonymous electoral bonds scheme.The Finance Act 2017 introduced amendments in Reserve Bank of India Act, Companies Act, Income Tax Act, Representation of Peoples Act and Foreign Contributions Regulations Act to make way for the electoral bonds.
The petitions filed by NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), political party Communist Party of India (Marxist) challenge the scheme results in making political fundings non-transparent as the electoral bond donors are kept anonymous. They also contend that the scheme facilitate corruption and money laundering by donation through shell companies. Refuting these contentions, the Centre stated that the scheme ensured that clean money comes to political parties through proper banking channels.
Follow this page for live-updates from the hearing.