Supreme Court to hear pleas challenging electoral bonds scheme on October 31

The Supreme Court on Tuesday listed the final hearing of pleas challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme on October 31, PTI reported.

Electoral bonds are monetary instruments that citizens or corporate groups can buy from a bank and give to a political party, which is then free to redeem for money. The Bharatiya Janata Party government in the Centre had introduced the electoral bonds in January 2018.

The case against electoral bonds was first filed in the Supreme Court by the Association for Democratic Reforms in September 2017, but has since remained pending. In March, the Supreme Court said that it would consider if the petitions against electoral bonds are to be referred to the Constitution bench.

During Tuesday’s hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner, urged the court to take up the matter soon since the bonds will be issued before the upcoming Assembly elections in five states, reported Live Law.

However, the Attorney General for India R Venkatramani argued that one of the issues raised in the plea was that it was passed as a money bill. He said that the court is already hearing another petition challenging the rules pertaining to passage of laws as money bills in parliament.

Money bills can be passed without the assent of the Rajya Sabha. The...

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