Electoral Bonds ‘Scam’: Plea Before Supreme Court To Probe Alleged Quid Pro Quo

New Delhi: A petition has been filed before Supreme Court seeking a probe into alleged scam involving electoral bonds.

The joint petition, submitted by Common Cause, an NGO, and Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), has sought a court-monitored investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into potential cases of quid pro quo agreements between corporations and political parties as part of the electoral bond scheme.

The plea claimed that an independent investigation is needed to uncover the electoral bonds scam involving crores of rupees.

“The electoral bond scam presents an actual money trail, in contrast to the 2G or Coal Scam, where allocation of spectrum and coal mining leases were made arbitrarily without evidence of a money trail,” the petition stated, explaining the need for a SIT.

Pointing out the correlation between companies supporting political parties through donations and receiving beneficial contracts in return, the plea says: “For every Rs 1,000 crore worth of electoral bonds, contracts worth at least 100 times that amount have been given to the companies that bought those electoral bonds.”

Central agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department (I-T) have been complicit in corruption related to the electoral bonds scam, the petition implied.

Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional in February, and instructed State Bank of India to disclose details of the purchaser and recipient of these bonds. Election Commission of India was directed to upload the entire electoral bond data on its website for the public to see.