Supreme Court to Hear Plea for SIT Probe into Electoral Bonds on July 22

The Supreme Court will hear petitions on July 22 seeking an SIT probe into alleged quid pro quo deals via Electoral Bonds donations between corporates and political parties. The petitions demand an investigation into anonymous donations and alleged scams involving significant sums of money.

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will hear petitions on July 22, seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into alleged quid pro quo arrangements between corporates and political parties through Electoral Bonds donations. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, made the announcement after advocate Prashant Bhushan requested an early hearing.

Filed by NGOs Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), the petition demands authorities investigate the funding sources of shell companies and loss-making firms supporting political parties, as shown in the electoral bond data. The petition also seeks recovery of funds if they are found to be proceeds of crime.

The plea alleges a multicrore scam in the Electoral Bonds matter, requiring an independent investigation supervised by a retired Supreme Court judge. It claims the investigation must uncover a broader conspiracy involving company officers, government officials, political functionaries, and agency officials like the ED, IT Department, and CBI.

Petitioners argue that public data revealed most bonds were given as quid pro quo by corporates seeking government contracts, licenses, or immunity from probes, in violation of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Supreme Court had earlier struck down the anonymous Electoral Bonds scheme and related amendments, stopping the SBI from issuing any more bonds.