Electoral Bonds: Plea in SC Seeks SIT Probe into Quid Pro Quo Allegations

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court, urging for a court-monitored investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into alleged instances of “apparent quid pro quo” among political parties, corporations, and officials of investigating agencies regarding donations via electoral bonds.

Constitution Bench

On February 15, a five-judge constitution bench of the apex court invalidated the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme for anonymous political funding. As per a directive from the Supreme Court, the State Bank of India (SBI), the authorized seller of electoral bonds, shared the data with the Election Commission, which subsequently made it public.

Electoral Bonds

The electoral bonds scheme, initiated by the government on January 2, 2018, was presented as an alternative to cash donations to political parties to enhance transparency in political funding.

Filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, the plea seeks a direction for authorities to investigate the funding sources of “shell companies and loss-making companies” to various political parties, as disclosed in the electoral bonds data.

It further requests authorities to recover amounts from political parties donated by companies as part of “quid pro quo arrangements where these are found to be proceeds of crime”.

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