SC to hear on July 22 plea to seize money received by political parties under electoral bonds scheme

According to the cause list of July 22 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is slated to hear the plea filed by Khem Singh Bhati.

The petition has said that on February 15, the top court had struck down the electoral bonds scheme, and pursuant to the court's direction, details of electoral bonds purchased by various corporate houses and redeemed by the political parties were made available in the public domain by the Election Commission.

"It is submitted that the amount received by the political parties through electoral bonds was neither 'donation' nor 'voluntary contribution'; "Rather it was 'barter money' received from various corporate houses by way of 'quid pro quo' for the undue benefits granted at the cost of the public exchequer," the plea claimed. The petition has been settled by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria and is filed in the top court through advocate Jayesh K Unnikrishnan.

The plea alleged that the details of the purchase and encashment of electoral bonds clearly showed that money paid through electoral bonds by the companies to the political parties, "was either to avoid criminal prosecution or to get monetary advantage by way of contract or other policy matters". "The political parties have misused their position, being the ruling party in the government and procured electoral bonds behind the iron curtain," it claimed.

"The political parties used electoral bond as a tool and method to extract money, by conferring undue advantage to corporate houses by way of compromising their criminal prosecution or granting state largesse, at the cost of public exchequer and against public interest," the plea alleged. It has also sought a direction for constituting a committee headed by a former judge of the apex court to investigate the alleged "illegal benefits" conferred on the donors by public authorities at the instance of political parties on account of payment received through electoral bonds.
The plea, in the alternative, sought a direction to the Income Tax Authorities to reopen the assessment of respondents nos. 4 to 25 (political parties) from financial years 2018-2019 to 2023-2024 and disallow the exemptions of income tax claimed by them under section 13A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and levy income tax, interest and penalty on the amount received by way of electoral bonds.

The electoral bonds scheme, which was notified by the government on January 2, 2018, was pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring in transparency in political funding