New Delhi: The Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, robustly defended the Electoral Bond Scheme in the Supreme Court on Thursday. He requested the apex court to bolster the scheme by criminalizing any breach of electoral bond donor confidentiality by the State Bank of India. Mehta emphasized that if the bank fails to adhere to the confidentiality clause, the court should introduce penal consequences and establish criminal liability for any breach of trust.

What the Centre Submitted:
Addressing the court's concerns regarding donor confidentiality, the Solicitor General suggested that there was no need to scrap the scheme. Instead, he proposed that provisions concerning access to donor information could be tightened, akin to the Aadhaar case. He recommended that investigating agencies should only access information about an electoral bond donor through a court order. Mehta, representing the government of India in the case challenging the Electoral Bond Scheme for political party funding, urged the court to incorporate this safeguard into the scheme.

Authorized Bank for Electoral Bonds:
Under the Electoral Bond Scheme, the State Bank of India is the sole authorized entity for selling electoral bonds in denominations ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore. The scheme permits Indian citizens, whether individuals or companies, to purchase these bonds and contribute them to any political party. The bank is legally obliged to maintain the confidentiality of the purchaser/donor's information.

Assuaging the Court's Concerns:
During the hearing, a five-judge bench overseeing petitions challenging the scheme expressed concerns that the government could readily access donor information from the bank. In response, the Solicitor General sought to allay these apprehensions by asserting that the information held by the bank on donors is secure and inaccessible to anyone. He suggested that if the court deems it necessary to enhance donor confidentiality, an additional layer of safeguards could be introduced by amending the existing framework of the Electoral Bond Scheme.

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