The Supreme Court of India.

NEW DELHI: Centre's decision to introduce the electoral bond scheme in elections has come under judicial scrutiny with Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to it on a plea of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) seeking to quash of the decision.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanvilkar and DY Chandrachud agreed to examine the plea of the political party challenging government decision.

Claiming that the scheme will clean up political funding in India, the NDA government had, in the previous budget, decided to bring electoral bonds despite stiff opposition from the political opposition and some reservation on the move from the Election Commission. The EC had initially referred to the move as a “retrogade step”.

In its petition to the Supreme Court, CPM has demanded that the move to float electoral bonds be scrapped. In its place, the Left has demanded that the government designate an institution like the Election Commission of India , to which corporates can donate funds, and which can then be monitored by the EC. “If the bond route is followed, it will mean the end of transparency. Only the Corporate and the government will know about the funds transferred,” the petition said

Saying that the party was left with no choice but to move the Supreme Court to seek redressal, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury , who is also petitioner along with his party, has said, “We took up the matter in Parliament and sought amendments to the Bill when the government moved the proposal to introduce electoral bonds. Using their brute majority in the lower house, however, the government overturned the recommendations by Rajya Sabha. The no disclosure clause in electoral bonds will create opacity in funding and is bad for the democracy.”

According to the provisions of scheme, the bonds will be issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore and will be available at specified branches of State Bank of India. Donors can donate the bonds to their party of choice, which can then be cashed in via the party’s verified account within 15 days.

Every party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and has secured at least 1 per cent of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or assembly election will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission. Electoral bond transactions can be made only via that account.

