Probe alleged quid pro quo revealed through electoral bonds, says plea in Supreme Court

Two non-profit groups have moved the Supreme Court seeking investigation into alleged quid pro quo arrangements between corporations, political parties and government agencies based on electoral bonds data, Bar and Bench reported on Wednesday.

In its

judgement on February 15, the Supreme Court while striking down the scheme had said that it violated the right to information, freedom of speech and could lead to quid pro quo arrangements between donors and political parties.

The petitioners, Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, have filed a joint petition stating that the investigation will expose alleged conspiracies and scams carried out through the electoral bonds scheme.

The petition has asked that a Special Investigation Team supervised by a retired Supreme Court judge should conduct the probe into the matter.

Electoral bonds were monetary instruments that citizens or corporate groups could buy from the State Bank of India and give to a political party, which would then redeem them. The scheme was introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre in January 2018.

The entire process was anonymous since buyers were not required to declare their purchase of these interest-free bonds and political parties did not need to show the source of the money.

The latest petition in the court contended that the analysis of the data has shown that bulk of...

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