Supreme Court to hear pleas against electoral bond scheme ahead of Delhi polls

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear multiple challenges to the electoral bond scheme ahead of the Delhi polls on February 8, despite stiff opposition from the Election Commission on hearing the case amid poll process.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde listed the case for hearing in two weeks at the insistence of activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan who sought an urgent stay on the sale of electoral bonds ahead of the assembly polls in Delhi.

Bhushan alleged that the rules only envisaged sale of electoral bonds ahead of general elections, but the government had been opening the window to mop up funds ahead of every round of assembly polls. He sought an urgent stay on the bonds.


The bench also comprising Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant refused to stay the scheme.

The BJP has received thousands of crores through electoral bonds, which was supposed to be operable only for a few days in a year during the Lok Sabha polls, Bhushan contended.

Despite RBI and EC objections, the government has been using the window before every assembly polls to ‘funnel benami and illicit funds’, he alleged. “All kinds of black money and kick money has been flowing through the channel. This is alarming.”

The CJI wanted to give four weeks to the Election Commission to respond to the plea for a stay but at Bhushan’s insistence, posted the case for hearing before the Delhi polls. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi sought four weeks to file a reply opposing any hearing on the issue in the “middle of elections”.