Election bonds: SIT under court supervision aims to investigate “biggest scam”
Anjali Bharadwaj, an activist for transparency rights, and advocate Prashant Bhushan announced their intention to petition the Supreme Court once again during a news conference held in the city. In the wake of the electoral bond ruling, they want to ask for the establishment of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the people responsible for what they consider to be the country’s “biggest scam.”
According to the data made public, Bhushan said that the CBI and ED had a hand in pressuring businesses to give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) millions of rupees. To find everyone engaged in this scheme to offer and accept bribes and to award contracts, a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) is required. Bhushan demanded a SIT be led by a retired Supreme Court judge and a retired CBI official with a reputation for integrity. “Those involved include people from various companies, political parties, and the government who made policy changes (for the companies) or who awarded contracts, as well as individuals from CBI and ED, and the drug controller office,” Bhushan said.
Bhushan further emphasized the abuse of government agencies by bringing up the Sarath Reddy issue. “Around the same time his company, Aurobindo Pharma, donated Rs 50 crore to BJP, his bail was not opposed in court,” he said. Bhushan also brought attention to the fact that a number of pharmaceutical firms that are notorious for creating inferior medications have made substantial contributions to the governing party in the Center. “The government is tampering with the people’ health. According to Bhushan, even Parakala Prabhakar, the husband of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, has referred to it as the largest swindle in the nation’s history.
The State Bank of India revealed statistics on electoral bonds, and of the total amount redeemed between March 2018 and January 2024, the BJP collected Rs 8,252 crore. Following the Trinamool Congress at Rs 1,705 crore, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi at Rs 1,408 crore, the Biju Janata Dal at Rs 1,020 crore, and the Indian National Congress at Rs 1,952 crore, was the second-largest recipient. Rs 677 crore was given to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The public must be aware of who is financing whom. This openness was not made possible by electoral bonds. It’s important to keep in mind that, despite Amit Shah, the home minister, saying no such adjustment was made, financial contributions continued even after electoral bonds were introduced. As of right now, the only electoral bond data available is from April 12, 2019, totaling Rs 12,000 crore, and it includes information on both the buyers and beneficiaries. But for the remaining around Rs 4,000 crore, Bharadwaj said, “We don’t know who bought it; we just know who benefited from it.”
