Supreme Court to hear plea challenging Electoral Bonds notification on December 6

The Supreme Court will hear the plea challenging 15-day extension for the issuance of Electoral Bonds on December 6.  The court, while hearing the petitions challenging the Electoral Bond Scheme on Tuesday, refused to grant urgent hearing of the plea. The bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud rather held that it will hear the latest challenge along with the batch of cases pending since 2017, that have challenged the scheme itself.

The hearing on the matter will take place on December 6, Bar and Bench reported.

The matter pertains to a government notification that allowed the extension of the period for the issuance of Electoral Bonds by 15 days "in the year of general elections to the legislative assemblies of States and Union Territories with legislature".  Petitioners had claimed before the Supreme Court that fresh grounds of action have emerged with the Centre's notification.

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding. The government, on January 2, 2018, notified the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 to establish and cleanse the system of political funding in the country.

An electoral bond is valid for 15 days from the date of issuance. No payment can be made to any political party if the bond is deposited after the expiry of the validity period. It can be purchased by Indian citizens or entities incorporated or established in the country.

Registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 percent of the votes polled in the last Lok Sabha or legislative assembly election are eligible to receive funding through electoral bonds.

The purchaser is allowed to buy an electoral bond(s) only on due fulfilment of all the extant instructions regarding KYC norms issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and by making payment from a bank account. All payments for the issuance of the bond are accepted only in Indian rupees, through demand draft or cheque through Electronic Clearing System or direct debit to the buyer's account.