New Delhi: The Supreme Court rejected pleas to establish a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Friday. The rejection was for a probe into alleged quid pro quo deals between corporations and political parties via Electoral Bonds donations. The Court ruled that ordering an investigation under judicial supervision would be premature and inappropriate, as the available remedies under regular criminal law procedures have not been exhausted.The Court noted that the petitions are based on assumptions at the present age, rather than concrete evidence. Court declines intervention in electoral bond donationsThe Court also declined requests to order the recovery of electoral bond donations received by political parties and to reopen their income tax assessments. It held that such actions fall under the statutory powers of authorities under the Income Tax Act issuing directions at this stage would be equivalent to making a definitive judgment on contested facts which is premature.A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard four petitions, including one jointly filed by NGOs Common Cause and CPIL and three others submitted by individuals Dr. Khem Singh Bhatti, Sudip Narayan Tamankar and Jai Prakash Sharma.PIL alleges mutual benefitA PIL filed by two NGOs claimed there was an apparent mutual understanding and exchange of benefits between political parties, corporations, and investigative agencies, amounting to a quid pro quo arrangement.Electoral bonds under scrutinyThe electoral bonds were purchased and donations were made to political parties under a law passed by Parliament, which has subsequently been deemed unconstitutional. The question now is whether the motivations behind these donations should be probed through a Court-supervised investigation led by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).The plea termed the electoral bonds scheme a scam and requested an investigation into the funding sources of companies, including shell and loss-making entities, that contributed to political parties, as per data released by the Election Commission.
