Centre Plans No Review Petition on Electoral Bonds, Fears Return of Black Money in Polls: Govt Sources

There has been much joy in the opposition ranks with the Supreme Court striking down electoral bonds, labelling them unconstitutional.

While the Opposition sees it as their victory, government sources say though they will respect the court verdict, the move may once again make the process of polls murky as it’s possible that some companies and even political parties would use this verdict to amass black money.

However, despite the concern, the government as of now plans to file no review petition. A source in the government told News18: “Why should we? A PIL can always be moved or an aggrieved donor who may fear his identity being revealed always has the option to go to court.”

The bigger concern is that the agreement during electoral bonds that the identity of the donor cannot be revealed may be compromised. The scheme introduced in 2018 had said that identity of corporates buying the bond did not have to be revealed except to the State Bank of India. But this has now been rejected, which means many corporates fear and worry that they could be subject to attacks from rival political parties to whom they did not give any donation.

The government source said it’s now up to these donors to approach court. The source added that as per the verdict, unspent amount will have to be returned to the donor which once again risks revealing their identity.

The source also said the government will keep tabs as much as possible to ensure that no black money is converted to white through donations. The list of those who purchased electoral bonds is being scrutinised by the government to tally it with other transactions of the individual for any suspicious activity.

Meanwhile, the Congress has already linked the temporary freezing of their accounts by the Income Tax department to the court verdict. The government and BJP, however, said rules are same for every tax payer.