'Disclosure Affects Corporate Donors' : SCBA President Adish Aggarwala Writes To CJI Seeking Suo Motu Review Of Electoral Bonds Verdict

After writing to President Droupadi Murmu asking for a presidential reference against the recent electoral bonds verdict and for its implementation to be withheld, Senior Advocate Dr Adish C Aggarwala, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), has now penned a letter to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.In his letter written on the letterhead of All India Bar Association (AIBA), Dr Aggarwala has urged the Chief Justice of India to initiate suo motu review proceedings against the constitution bench's February 15 judgment striking down the government's electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional.Aggarwala was poised to orally mention his letter urging a review of this verdict this morning when the five-judges bench reconvened to hear an application filed by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The commission sought the return of sealed envelopes containing electoral bond details furnished previously to the apex court, stating that it did not retain copies to maintain confidentiality. The bench directed the registrar general to ensure the scanning and digitization of the data by 5 PM tomorrow, after which the original copy would be returned to the Election Commission. The digitized files will also be made available to them.Additionally, the bench also stressed the need for the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose the alphanumeric number corresponding to each electoral bond, along with the details it has already disclosed regarding the purchase and redemption of the bonds.Accordingly, it issued notice to the SBI and directed the matter to be posted for hearing on Monday, March 18.When Dr Aggarwala attempted to mention his letter during the proceedings, other lawyers intervened.Today, the Supreme Court welcomed a foreign delegation from the United Kingdom, which included the Master of the Rolls of England and Wales, Sir Geoffrey Vos. As has recently become the tradition, these foreign judges were sharing the bench with our Supreme Court judges during the hearing of ECI's application in the electoral bonds case.Pointing to this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “May I request…Your Lordships are keeping this on Monday. We have guests among us. This mentioning can wait until Monday.”The other lawyers, including Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, readily agreed with the solicitor general's suggestion. Addressing the SCBA president, SG Mehta then said, “All of us are jointly requesting you to mention this on Monday.”The chief justice also asked the SCBA president, “Dr Aggarwala, would you like to mention this on Monday? Please respect the sentiments of your colleagues.”At the end, Dr Aggarwala conceded, agreeing to defer the mentioning of his request until Monday.On March 12, Dr Aggarwala penned a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, urging a halt to the enforcement of the Supreme Court's recent verdict striking down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional.Following this, the executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association strongly denounced the letter. Not only did they distance themselves from Aggarwala's stance, but also unequivocally condemned the views, terming it as an attempt to overreach and undermine the authority of the Supreme Court.Previously, the SCBA president had written to the Chief Justice of India, seeking suo motu action against 'erring farmers' amidst the ongoing farmers' protest, terming their actions as 'politically motivated'. This prompted a majority of the members of the SCBA executive committee to issue a resolution clarifying that Aggarwala wrote the letter unilaterally without any consultation with the committee members. Nearly 150 Supreme Court lawyers also signed a resolution seeking the removal of President Aggarwala. Their resolution calls for a general body meeting of the SCBA to discuss the removal of the president for writing letters without authority and capacity on the letterhead of the Supreme Court Bar Association.What has Dr Aggarwala argued in his latest letter?The SCBA president has highlighted concerns about the potential adverse impacts of the verdict and urged a re-evaluation in the interest of protecting corporate donors from potential victimisation.“At the time of donation, the corporate donor was fully aware that after donation, its identity, amount of donation and particulars of the donee political party, will not be made public and will be kept confidential. This provision of secrecy was made in the relevant scheme with a purpose that donor will be not subject to victimisation by any other political party whom the donor has not donated under the scheme…Revealing the names of corporate donors and the amount of donation would render the corporates vulnerable to victimisation.”Aggarwala's letter also pointed out what he perceived as a flaw in the proceedings of the constitution bench with regard to the framing of substantial questions of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution in terms of Article 145(3). He reasoned that the division...

'Disclosure Affects Corporate Donors' : SCBA President Adish Aggarwala Writes To CJI Seeking Suo Motu Review Of Electoral Bonds Verdict

Awstika Das

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