SC Rejects Plea For Court-Monitored SIT Probe Into Electoral Bonds Scheme

The Supreme Court on Friday (2 August) dismissed petitions seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into the sale and purchase of electoral bonds under the scheme struck down by a Constitution Bench in February this year.

A Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, dismissed a batch of petitions that in particular sought a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the misuse of electoral bonds scheme, particularly the allegations of quid pro quo between donors and political parties.

"We decline to exercise our jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution," the Court ordered, Bar and Bench reported.

The Court said that it would be "premature" and "inappropriate" to order an investigation under the monitoring of a retired judge when the remedies available under the ordinary law governing criminal law procedure have not been invoked.

Earlier, in February the Supreme Court struck down the Narendra Modi government’s 2018 electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding.

Highlighting that “the information about funding to a political party is essential for a voter to exercise their freedom to vote in an effective manner”, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by the Chief Justice of India, said that changes made in the laws to implement the scheme were unconstitutional.

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