No Error: Supreme Court trashes review plea against electoral bonds verdict

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a clutch of petitions seeking a review of the Constitution Bench verdict striking down the electoral bonds scheme 2018 as unconstitutional. After perusal of the review petitions, a bench headed by Justice CJI DY Chandrachud said that “there is no error apparent on the face of the record. No case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013. The review petitions are, therefore, dismissed”.

In a unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution Bench had struck down the electoral bonds scheme, saying that denying voters the right to know the details of funding of political parties would lead to a dichotomous situation and the funding of political parties cannot be treated differently from that of the candidates who contest elections.

In its February 15 judgment, the Supreme Court had directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to forthwith stop the issuance of electoral bonds and ordered the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish on its official website the details of the political parties which have received contributions through electoral bonds since April 2019. CJI Chandrachud’s opinion, concurred by Justices B.R. Gavai, J.B. Padriwala and Manoj Misra, added that the infringement of the right to information of voters cannot be justified for the purpose of curbing black money in the electoral process.

Further, it said that the electoral bond scheme is “not the only means for curbing black money” in electoral financing and there are other alternatives which substantially fulfil the purpose and impact the right to information minimally when compared to the impact of electoral bonds on the right to information. (IANS)

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