New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday asked the political parties to submit the details of the donations received through electoral bond(EB) stating that the issue is “vital to fairness of electoral process”.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that the political parties give details of the bond money received till May 15 to the Election Commission in a sealed cover by May 31, 2019.
The bench observed, “The transperency and anonimity in the donations through electoral bond, raised by petitioner NGO (Association of Democratic Reforms) through Prasant Bhusan, raises weighty issues vital to fairness of electoral process.”
ADR in petition has prayed that either the issuance of Electoral Bond be stopped or the identity of the donors be disclosed to maintain transparency in political funding.
The government’s contention was that the purpose of the bond is to eliminate black money in elections.
The court on Thursday had observed that if the identity of the purchaser of the bond is not disclosed then the effort of the government to curtail black money in the elections would be “futile” and reserved its order for Friday.
