April 12th 2019 Order in Plain English
Electoral BondsOrder in Plain English: 12th April 2019
The 3 judge Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna passed an interim order on the electoral bond scheme which was challenged by petitioners ADR, Common Cause and CPI (M). The Election Commission took a position against the Union seeking changes in the functioning of the scheme to make the electoral bond a more transparent instrument.
The Court directed all political parties to submit to the Election Commission details of all bonds received until May 15th by May 30th. The parties are to to disclose the donations, donors’ identity and bank account details in a “sealed cover” to the Election Commission. The Court directed the Finance Ministry to alter its notification, which granted 5 extra days for purchasing electoral bonds. The Court did not place a stay on the electoral bonds scheme.
Hearings will continue at a later date.