SG: scheme is ‘very transparent’; SC to decide on December 6 whether it needs scrutiny by larger bench
According to the Supreme Court, it will examine on December 6 whether a batch of pleas challenging laws permitting the funding of political parties through electoral bonds should be referred to a larger court.
This is an important matter, and a bench of Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna requested the assistance of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General.
According to Tushar Mehta, the method of receiving money through electoral bonds is very transparent.
As part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding, electoral bonds have been proposed as alternatives to cash donations.
The top court was hearing petitions filed by NGOs, the Association for Democratic Reforms, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and others.
As a representative of the NGO, Advocate Prashant Bhushan had mentioned the matter before the then Chief Justice of India, N V Ramana, on April 5, stating that it was a critical matter that required immediate attention.
It had been agreed that the top court would hear the NGO’s petition, but any court did not hear it.
In October of last year, Bhushan requested that the Supreme Court urgently list the PIL in order to prevent the Centre from opening any further sales windows for electoral bonds while a case regarding political party funding and alleged lack of transparency in their accounts is pending.
