New Delhi. The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a petition seeking the formation of a ‘Special Investigative Team’ (SIT) to investigate donations made by corporate companies to political parties through electoral bonds. The Supreme Court said that there is no need to investigate this alleged scam in the present situation. In cases where someone has apprehensions, they can take the legal route and approach the court if there is no solution. NGOs ‘Common Cause’ and ‘Center for Public Interest Litigation’ (CPIL) had alleged in the petition that there has been a scam of crores of rupees in political donations through electoral bonds. They said that this matter is not being investigated by the CBI or other investigating agencies. Therefore, they were demanding the formation of an SIT from the Supreme Court so that this matter can be investigated impartially.
Supreme Court’s decision
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that the petitioners had also demanded from us to form an SIT to investigate against the companies and political parties, to seize the money taken wrongly, to impose fine on the companies, investigation under the supervision of the court and to ask the Income Tax Department to re-assess the political parties from 2018 onwards.
The CJI said that the electoral bond data made public after the previous order has revealed donations to political parties. He also said that the formation of an SIT is not necessary because government agencies can investigate this matter.
Court not initiating direct investigation
The Chief Justice clarified that the purchase of electoral bonds was done under a law made by Parliament, and on the basis of that law, donations were made to political parties. This law has now been repealed. He said that these petitions have been filed on the assumption that donations were given to political parties to earn profit. The court said that there are many options available in the law for investigation and in the current situation, it would be hasty to get an investigation done by the Supreme Court. The petitioners should resort to other legal options.
Clear message from CJI
The CJI said that it is not right to file a petition directly in the Supreme Court when legal options are available. He also said that it is not necessary to confiscate the donation amount from political parties or ask the Income Tax to re-assess. There is no need to form an SIT under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge right now. In cases where the agency does not investigate or closes the investigation, the complainant can go to the High Court.
