ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS & ANR. versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS

Citation: [2021] 2 S.C.R. 851 · Decided: 26-03-2021 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S.A. BOBDE, A.S. BOPANNA, V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN · Disposal: Dismissed

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Judgment (excerpt)

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[2021] 2 S.C.R. 851
851
ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS & ANR.
v.
UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
(Interlocutory Application No.183625 Of 2019 and 36653 of 2021)
In
(Writ Petition (C) No.880 of 2017)
MARCH 26, 2021
S. A. BOBDE, CJI, A.S. BOPANNA AND
V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN, JJ.]
Elections:
Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 – Application seeking stay of
the sale of electoral bonds under the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018
– Another application seeking an interim direction to the Union of
India not to open any further window for sale of Electoral Bonds
which is likely to be opened on 01.04.2021 under the Scheme –
Plea that Electoral Bonds Scheme allows the donors of political
parties to maintain anonymity – Held: Despite the fact that the
Scheme provides anonymity, the Scheme is intended to ensure that
everything happens only through banking channels – While the
identity of the purchaser of the bond is withheld, it is ensured that
unidentified/ unidentifiable persons cannot purchase the bonds and
give it to the political parties – A non-KYC compliant application or
an application for purchase of bonds not meeting the requirements
of the scheme would be rejected – As a result the information about
the purchaser would certainly be available with the SBI which alone
is authorised to issue and encash the bonds as per the Scheme –
Moreover, any expenditure incurred by anyone in purchasing the
bonds through banking channels, would have to be accounted as
an expenditure in his books of accounts – Furthermore, since the
Scheme mandates political parties to file audited statement of
accounts and also since the Companies Act requires financial
statements of registered companies to be filed with the Registrar of
Companies, the purchase as well as encashment of the bonds,
happening only through banking channels, is always reflected in
documents that eventually come to the public domain – Thus, since
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2021] 2 S.C.R.
the Scheme was introduced on 2.1.2018 and the bonds are released
at periodical intervals of every year, viz 2018, 2019 and 2020
without any impediment; and that certain safeguards have already
been provided by this Court, no justification for the grant of stay at
this stage – Furthermore, once this Court has passed an order
directing some interim arrangement, thereafter applications for the
same relief cannot be made, every time the window for the purchase
under the Scheme is opened.
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Interlocutory application
no. 183625 of 2019 and interlocutory application no. 36653 of 2021 in
writ petition(c) no.880 of 2017.
(UNDER ARTICLE 32 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA)
Prashant Bhushan, Ms. Neha Rathi, Ms. Shivani Kapoor, Advs.
for the Petitioners.
K.K. Venugopal, AG, Tushar Mehta, SG, R. Bala, Rakesh Dwivedi,
Mukul Gupta, Sr. Advs., Ankur Begani, Ms. Shradha Deshmukh, Shyam
Gopal, Ms. Chinamayee Chandra, Arvind Kumar Gupta, Ms. Seema
Bengami, Ankur Talwar, Mrs. Anil Katiyar, Amit Sharma, Dipesh Sinha,
Ms. Pallavi Barua, Prateek Kumar, Arvind Kumar Gupta, Prashant
Bhardwaj, Rishi Bharadwaj, Abhiesumat Gupta, Vikram Singh Jakhar,
P. V. Dinesh, Ms. Rashmi Singh, Bineesh K., Ashwini Kumar Singh, B.
K. Pal, Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Amit Anand Tiwari, Ms. Shakun
Sharma, Ms. Mary Mitzy, Ms. Devyani Gupta, Ms. Sushma Suri, Aviral
Kashyap, Advs. for the Respondents.
Applicant-in-person.
The Order of the Court was passed:
ORDER
1. The Association for Democratic Reforms and Common Cause
have joined together and come up with the above Public Interest Litigation
praying for the:
“(a) Issue a writ of declaration or any other appropriate
writ declaring —-
(i)
Section 135 of the Finance Act 2017 and the
corresponding amendment carried out in Section 31 of
the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934,
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(ii)
Section 137 of the Finance Act, 2017, and the
corresponding amendment carried out in Section 29C
of the Representation of the People Act, 1951
(iii)
Section 11 of the Finance Act, 2017 and the
corresponding amendment carried out in Section 13A,
the Income Tax Act, 1961
(iv)
Section 154 of the Finance Act, 2017 and the
corresponding amendment carried out in Section 182
of the Companies Act, 2013 and
(v)
Section 236 of Finance Act, 2016 and the
corresponding amendment carried out in Section
2(1)(j)(vi) of the Foreign Regulations Contribution Act,
2010
as being unconstitutional, illegal and void.
(b)
Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ
directing that no 

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