Everyone hiding something? Citizens of the country do not have the right to know the source of funds that political parties receive, the Union government on Sunday told the Supreme Court, The Times of India reported.
Attorney General R Venkataramani made the submission in a statement while responding to petitions challenging the electoral bonds scheme.
On October 31, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, is scheduled to commence hearing a batch of pleas challenging the electoral bond scheme. Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will be other members of the bench.
The scheme was pitched as an alternative to cash donations for political parties. According to the provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by any citizen of India or entity incorporated or established in India. An individual can buy electoral bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
In a statement filed before the top court ahead of a hearing on petitions challenging the electoral bond scheme, Attorney General R Venkataramani said that Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution grants the citizens the right to know the antecedents of candidates but not a “general right to know everything”, implying that information on electoral bonds cannot be in the public domain.
Giving a reference to the top court’s landmark judgment in People’s Union for Civil Liberties case in 2003, he said, “The right to know the criminal antecedents of a candidate, which can be of utility and relevance to the choice of a candidate, is neither comparable to the case on hand nor can there be a general right to know anything and everything for undefined ends.”