The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): Two NGOs, ‘Common Cause’ and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), have petitioned the Supreme Court to list their Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into alleged instances of quid pro quo involving political parties, corporate entities, and officials of investigative agencies in the electoral bonds scheme.
During the hearing, a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta took note of lawyer Prashant Bhushan’s submission that the plea needed urgent listing. Justice Khanna assured that the Chief Justice’s office was aware of the matter and it would be listed.
A five-judge Constitution bench had scrapped the electoral bonds scheme on February 15, highlighting the need for transparency in political funding. The NGOs’ plea, terming the scheme a “scam,” sought investigation into the sources of funding from “shell companies and loss-making companies” that made donations to political parties, as disclosed by data from the Election Commission (EC). The petition also called for recovering money donated through quid pro quo arrangements deemed as proceeds of crime.
Following the Supreme Court’s judgment, the State Bank of India, authorized under the scheme, shared data with the EC, which made it public. The scheme, notified on January 2, 2018, was intended to replace cash donations with more transparent political funding.
“The electoral bond scam has a money trail unlike the 2G scam or the coal scam, where allocations were arbitrarily made without evidence of a money trail. Yet, the court ordered investigations in those cases,” the plea stated. It alleged that key investigative agencies, such as the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and the Income Tax department, were complicit in corruption, with firms under investigation donating large sums to the ruling party to influence probe outcomes.
The plea called for an SIT of investigators with impeccable integrity, chosen by the Supreme Court and supervised by a retired judge. It requested a court-monitored investigation into quid pro quo instances involving public servants, political parties, commercial organizations, and officials of investigative agencies, based on electoral bond data published by the EC.
Additionally, the petition sought investigation into alleged violations of the Companies Act by firms donating to political parties through electoral bonds within three years of incorporation and called for penalties under the Act. It claimed that electoral bond data showed a trend of corporate entities using the scheme for quid pro quo arrangements, influencing government contracts, licenses, and regulatory actions in their favor.
The plea alleged that electoral bonds were used as “protection” money to stall or avoid regulatory action, securing favorable policy changes. It highlighted that the scheme led to the proliferation of shell companies laundering illicit money, calling it one of the largest scams in India.