The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 27 March had filed an affidavit saying electoral bonds and removal of cap on corporate funding would have a “serious impact” on transparency regarding funding of political parties.
The affidavit was in response to the petitions challenging the scheme in the Supreme Court. The EC pointed to two letters written by the watchdog to the government expressing reservation on this scheme.
“Any donation received by a political party through an electoral bond has been taken out from the ambit of reporting. It would be difficult to ascertain if the political parties received donations from government companies or foreign sources,” the EC said.
The apex court is set to hear the petitions challenging the constitutionality of the electoral bonds scheme on 2 April. The scheme had come into force on 2 January last year.
The petition filed by ADR and Common Cause in the apex court argued that the scheme is “unconstitutional, illegal and void.”
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