New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court urging for the disclosure of details regarding electoral bonds sold between March 1, 2018, and April 11, 2019. The plea, filed by Citizen's Rights Trust, argues that voters have the right to know about political party funding for the entire duration since the inception of the scheme, news agency PTI reported.
The Supreme Court had recently deemed the Centre's electoral bonds scheme "unconstitutional" and directed the State Bank of India (SBI), the authorized financial institution, to provide details of bonds purchased from April 12, 2019, to February 15, 2024, to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
A new application has been submitted that 9,159 bonds valued at Rs 4,002 crore were sold between March 2018 and April 2019, and their details should also be disclosed, as per the PTI report.
It seeks the SBI to share specifics of electoral bonds sold and redeemed during the specified period, including alphanumeric numbers, purchase dates, denominations, and donor and party names to the ECI.
"It is submitted that once the entire Electoral Bond Scheme is held to be violative of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, the citizens are entitled to know the details of the donor and donee of the entire period from March 2018 onwards (the date when the scheme became functional).
"The data available on the platform of the Election Commission represents only 76 per cent of the total bonds and the voters are not aware of the details of the remaining 24 per cent of the Electoral Bonds," the plea said, the PTI report added.
The association, represented through senior advocate Vijay Hansaria and advocate Sneha Kalita, submitted that the cut-off date of April 12, 2019, is relevant only for furnishing information by political parties to the Election Commission as an interim arrangement when the matter was sub-judice before the apex court.
"Once, this court, in the final judgement and order dated February 15, 2024, has struck down the entire Electoral Bond Scheme and the amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Companies Act, 2013 and the Income Tax Act, 1961 by the Finance Act, 2017, the voters are entitled to know the funding to the political parties by the Electoral Bond for the entire period," it said, PTI reported.
The plea highlights that since the electoral bond scheme is deemed unconstitutional, citizens should be informed about all funding to political parties from March 2018 onwards.
While the SBI requested an extension until June 30 to furnish the details, the Supreme Court ordered disclosure by March 12. Additionally, the ECI was directed to publish the information provided by the bank on its official website by March 15.