Supreme Court Sets Final Hearing Date for Controversial Electoral Bonds Program After Six-Year Legal Battle

Last Updated on October 10, 2023 by News Desk

The Supreme Court has set October 31 as the date for the last hearing of cases contesting the contentious Electoral Bonds programme. If the hearing doesn’t end on October 31, it will be heard on November 1. Almost six years have passed since the petitions were initially submitted in 2017. After a brief discussion over whether to postpone the hearing until a Constitution Bench rules on the law governing the passage of acts as money bills, the court opted to list the subject.

Any person, company, partnership, or group of people may purchase election bonds as long as they are Indian nationals or have their incorporation or establishment in India. Election bonds are instruments in the form of promissory notes or bearer bonds. They are specifically offered for use in the system’s present political party funding structure. The 2017 Finance Act introduced a framework wherein electoral bonds may now be issued by any scheduled bank for the purpose of financing elections.

At least five changes to several statutes introduced by the Finance Act of 2017 are being contested in a number of petitions before the Supreme Court on the grounds that they have made it possible for political parties to receive unlimited, unrestricted funding. The Finance Act could not have been passed as a money bill, according to the petitioners’ argument.

The electoral bond programme is transparent, according to the central government. In March 2021, the Supreme Court denied a request for a halt on the programme. The bench asked questions about the nature of the instrument throughout the hearing, such as whether electoral bonds could be purchased with cash or by bank. According to attorney Prashant Bhushan, electoral bonds are similar to bearer bonds in that the party having the right to cash them out is a recognised political party.

The court eventually proceeded to list the case for hearing on October 31.

Case Title: Association for Democratic Reforms and anr vs Union of India Cabinet Secretary and Ors

Written by: Srijan Raj @raaj_srijan