Page 159 - Supreme Court

Only BJP benefitted from electoral bonds, say Maharashtra Oppn parties

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was the only outfit that benefited from electoral bonds, said opposition parties in Maharashtra on Thursday after the Supreme Court struck down the political funding scheme, calling it "unconstitutional". The NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar claimed the electoral bonds were brought into practice to solely benefit the BJP from anonymous donors. This scheme cannot rule out the possibility of a 'quid pro quo' from an individual or a company to a political party and therefore seeing the quantum of electoral bonds received by the BJP, this is a possibility, said party spokesperson Clyde Crasto. The Supreme Court's decision to strike down the electoral bonds scheme, calling it unconstitutional', is a very welcome move. There should be transparency and accountability of every donation that comes to a political party, Crasto said. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) said the top court has given a landmark decision over poll bonds but it should not go the way t

Electoral bonds: CPI(M) hails SC verdict, calls for reforms in funding

Welcoming the Supreme Court judgment striking down electoral bonds, the CPI(M) on Thursday said it was an "unscrupulous scheme designed to help the ruling party" and it was now essential to introduce reforms for political and electoral funding. In a widely anticipated judgement ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, saying it violates the Constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information. "The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) hails the historic judgment of the Supreme Court, which has struck down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional. By this verdict, this unscrupulous scheme designed to finance the ruling party by anonymous corporate donors has been completely scrapped," the CPI(M) said in a statement. The party had declared at the outset itself that it will not accept electoral bonds as this scheme legalizes corruption, the statement read, adding that the CPI(M) ha

Significant for transparency: AAP lauds SC's electoral bonds scheme ruling

The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision on electoral bonds, saying it is an important step in ensuring transparency in election funding. In a landmark judgement that delivered a big blow to the government, the Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the electoral bonds scheme, saying it violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information. The apex court ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose to the Election Commission the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme. "We welcome this decision. This is an important step in the transparency of election funding. Otherwise through electoral bonds, it was not known which person was giving funds to which party. It is important for country's democracy that it is known which person is giving how much money to which political party," Delhi Cabinet minister Atishi told reporters outside the Assembly. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chi

Govt must stop implementing such ideas in future: Kharge on electoral bond

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court decision to strike down the electoral bonds scheme and hoped the government will stop resorting to "such mischievous ideas" in the future. He said the Congress party had called the scheme "opaque and undemocratic" when it was launched. Subsequently, in the 2019 manifesto, the Congress promised to scrap the Modi government's "dubious scheme". "We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court today, which has struck down this 'Black Money Conversion' scheme of the Modi Government, calling it 'Unconstitutional'. "We remember how the Modi Govt, PMO and FM bulldozed every institution - RBI, Election Commission, Parliament and Opposition to fill BJP's coffers. No wonder, 95% of the funding under this scheme was received by BJP," Kharge said in a post in X. "We hope that Modi Government will stop resorting to such mischievous ideas in future and listens to the Supreme Court, so that Democracy, Transparency and ...

Electoral Bond Scheme: Rs 16,518 crore collected till date, Centre told LS

Electoral Bonds scheme verdict: On Thursday, the Supreme Court struck down the scheme and called it 'unconstitutional'

SC strikes down electoral bonds: Full timeline and scheme explained

Electoral bond scheme: What it is, why it was introduced and how the controversy played out with a complete timeline of events here

SC's electoral bond ruling will reinforce power of votes over notes: Cong

The Congress on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict striking down the electoral bond scheme, and said it will reinforce the power of votes over notes. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, The Supreme Court has held the much-touted Electoral Bonds scheme of the Modi Sarkar as violative of both laws passed by Parliament as well as the Constitution of India. The long-awaited verdict is hugely welcome and will reinforce the power of votes over notes, he said. The Modi Sarkar has been inflicting ANYAY upon ANYAY on the Annadatas while privileging the Chandadatas, Ramesh said. We also hope that the Supreme Court will take note that Election Commission has been consistently refusing to even meet political parties on the issue of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). If everything is transparent in the voting process then why this obstinacy? he said. The Supreme Court struck down the electoral bond scheme, saying it violates the right to information

SC says electoral bonds unconstitutional, asks SBI to submit all details

Electoral bonds scheme: The apex court has asked the SBI to give all details of donations via electoral bonds to ECI, which will have to publish it on its website by March 31

Supreme Court to pronounce judgment on electoral bonds scheme today

The electoral bonds scheme, introduced in 2017, provided anonymous donations to political parties

SC suggests expert panel to explore restart of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper

According to reports, the court observed that national interest cannot be overlooked and the nation should not lose the Tamil Nadu asset

SC to decide on validity of Centre's electoral bonds scheme on February 15

The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Thursday on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had on November 2 last year reserved its verdict in the matter. The scheme, which was notified by the government on January 2, 2018, was pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring in transparency in political funding. According to the provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by any citizen of India or entity incorporated or established in the country. An individual can buy electoral bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. Only the political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and which secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last elections to the Lok Sabha or a state legislative assembly are eligible to receive .

SC proposes to inspect closed Vedanta group's copper plant in Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed a panel of domain experts to inspect the closed Sterlite copper unit in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin and suggest further compliances and way forward, saying shutting down a plant of national importance will not serve anybody's purpose. The plant is closed since May 2018 after 13 people were killed as police opened fire to quell a protest over alleged pollution caused by it. The top court, while hearing a plea by the Vedanta group company, mooted the idea of setting up of a panel of experts and sought views of the firm, the Tamil Nadu government and the state pollution control board. Ultimately, shutting down the plant of national importance will not serve anybody's purpose, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed. The bench, however, made it clear that it cannot grant permission to the firm to refurbish the plant as an interim order. The bench, which heard the submissions of senior advoca

Delhi HC reserves order in Supertech Chairman RK Arora default bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved the order on the default bail plea moved by the Supertech Chairman RK Arora plea in a money laundering case

Former JNU student Umar Khalid withdraws bail plea from SC in UAPA case

Former JNU student Umar Khalid on Wednesday withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khalid, that he wishes to withdraw the bail plea due to "change in circumstances". Sibal said, "I wish to argue the legal question (challenging UAPA provisions) but wants to withdraw the bail plea due to change in circumstances. We will try our luck in trial court." The senior lawyer, however, did not elaborate on change in circumstances. The bench accepted the request of Sibal and ordered for withdrawal of the bail plea of Khalid. Khalid has challenged the October 18, 2022 order of the Delhi High Court by which his bail plea was rejected. The high court had rejected Khalid's bail plea, saying he was in constant touch with other co-accused and th

Bilkis Bano case: Guj govt files plea in SC to delete remarks against it

It argued that the State government had only acted as per the mandamus issued by the SC by way of its judgment of May 2022

Adani-Hindenburg case: Plea filed in SC seeks review of Jan 3 verdict

The court had directed the markets regulator to complete its probe within three months

Adani-Hindenburg row: Plea filed in SC seeks review of January 3 verdict

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking review of its January 3 verdict by which it refused to transfer the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group to a special investigation team or the CBI. In a significant win for the Adani Group, the apex court had declined to order a CBI or SIT probe and said in its judgement that market regulator SEBI was conducting a "comprehensive investigation" into the allegations and its conduct "inspires confidence". The petition claimed there were "mistakes and errors" in the judgment, and in light of certain new material that have been received by the counsel for the petitioner, there were sufficient reasons for a review of the verdict. The review petition has been filed by Anamika Jaiswal, who was one of the petitioners in the case. The plea, filed through advocate Neha Rathi, said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had in its report only updated the court about the status of the 24 investigatio

Sharad Pawar challenges ECI's grant of NCP name, symbol to Ajit Pawar in SC

Election Commission concluded that the Ajit Pawar faction had the majority support of 57 out 81 MLAs, granting it the NCP name and 'clock' symbol

Supreme Court quashes criminal defamation case against Tejashwi Yadav

The Supreme Court held it was appropriate to end the proceedings since Tejashwi Yadav unconditionally withdrew his remarks

IOCL, ArcelorMittal get nod for arbitration to resolve Essar Steel dispute

The Supreme Court on Monday permitted Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited (AMNSIL) to initiate arbitral proceedings to resolve their dispute relating to Essar Steel India Limited (ESIL). A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, which had reserved the judgement on the pleas on February 5, took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the IOC, and senior advocates Harish Salve and Abhishek Singhvi, representing the AMNSIL, that they wanted to go for arbitration. Paving the way for arbitration, the bench asked the IOC and the ArcelorMittal firm to nominate two arbitrators within a week. The two arbitrators will then nominate the third for resolving the dispute. The parties have agreed to nominate two arbitrators within a week. The two arbitrators so appointed will nominate the third arbitrator. In view of the agreement of the parties, the Delhi High Court's judgment dated October 10, 2023 is rendered ...