Supreme Court to Hear Plea for Investigation into Electoral Bond Scheme

The Supreme Court has agreed to list a public interest litigation filed by NGOs Common Cause and CPIL, demanding a court-monitored investigation into the electoral bond scheme. The PIL alleges a quid pro quo between political parties, corporations, and investigative agencies. The court has directed speedy listing of the case.

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider listing a public interest litigation for a court-monitored investigation into the electoral bonds scheme.

NGOs Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) filed the plea, alleging an 'apparent quid pro quo' among political parties, corporations, and investigative agencies.

A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud noted that despite lawyer Prashant Bhushan's repeated efforts, the petitions had not yet been listed. The CJI instructed Bhushan to send a fresh email to expedite the listing process.

The plea termed the scheme a 'scam' and called for an investigation into the funding of shell and loss-making companies donating to political parties. It also sought to recover money deemed 'proceeds of crime'.

In a previous ruling, a five-judge bench had scrapped the electoral bonds scheme, and the State Bank of India shared relevant data with the Election Commission, which made it public.

Notably, the plea pointed out that several firms under investigation have made significant donations to the ruling party, potentially influencing probe outcomes.

(With inputs from agencies.)