SC to hear on Dec 6 plea against recent changes in poll bonds

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would hear on December 6 a plea challenging a recent government notification allowing an additional 15 days for the sale of electoral bonds in a year when elections are held for legislative assemblies.

The 15-day additional sale window was previously provided only during years of parliamentary elections. The notification, which came just ahead of the elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, has extended that provision to the years of assembly elections as well.

A clutch of petitions, challenging nearly half a dozen provisions of the Finance Act, 2017, that brought in the electoral bonds for anonymous donations to political parties, is already pending adjudication in the court. The same will also be taken up on December 6, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.


The fresh plea challenges the notification earlier this month that amended the scheme to provide the additional window. As per the notification, the sale of electoral bonds is allowed from November 9 to November 15.

Describing the notification as "illegal", senior advocate Anoop Chaudhari on November 14 had sought an urgent hearing of the plea. "They are issuing a notification against the scheme. This notification is illegal", Chaudhari had then argued.