The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) clarified that it has not authorised SCBA President Dr Adish Aggarwala to write to the President of India to stay enforcement of the Electoral Bonds verdict by the Supreme Court. This clarification came after Aggarwala wrote a letter on Tuesday to President Droupadi Murmu seeking a Presidential Reference in the Electoral Bonds case. Aggarwala says in his letter that the Supreme Court should not deliver judgments that create constitutional stalemate and undermine the majesty of the Parliament.
He says the most dangerous part of the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Electoral Bonds Scheme case is its direction to the Election Commission of India to correlate the donations and make public which political party received how much from which corporate entity. According to him, it has a potential to sound a death-knell to both parliamentary democracy and corporate freedom in our nation.
Aggarwala concludes by requesting the President of India to withhold the enforcement of the Supreme Court judgment in the Electoral Bonds case by seeking a Presidential Reference on the matter. And says that till the Reference is heard and answered, the top court shall not give effect to its verdict of March 11, 2024.
Following this letter, the SCBA condemned his letter terming it as an attempt to undermine the authority of the Supreme Court.
"The entire 7-page letter, having been printed on letterhead of the All India Bar Association (AIBA) appears to be written by Dr. Adich C Aggarwala in his capacity as chairman of All India Bar Association. However, it noticed that below his signature he has mentioned his designation as President of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Therefore, it has become expedient for the Executive Committee of SCBA to make it clear that members of the committee have not authorised the President to write such a letter nor subscribe to his views."
While the letter was printed on the letterhead of the AIBA, it mentioned Aggarwala's designation as President of the SCBA below his signature.
The AIBA chairman and SCBA President Adish Aggarwala wrote that it would be perverse to doubt the legislative intention behind the electoral bonds scheme.
"Madam President, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India is well within its right to hear any dispute or constitutional question of law brought before it for adjudication. Similarly, the bedrock of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s exalted constitutional status is Article 142 of the Constitution. Article 142 confers upon the Hon’ble Supreme Court the inherent power to render ‘complete justice’. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, therefore, should not allow itself to deliver judgments that would create constitutional stalemate, undermine the majesty of the Parliament of India, the collective wisdom of the people’s representatives gathered in the Parliament and create a question mark over the very democratic functioning of political parties themselves." the letter read.