Petition moved in SC seeking SIT probe into electoral bonds scheme

• Petition filed in Supreme Court seeking SIT probr into electoral bonds scheme
• Petition alleges EBs were used in "quid pro quo" arrangements between corporates and political parties
• EB data released reveals private companies have paid crores of funds to political parties for protection against central probe agencies

The non-profit organization Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) have jointly submitted a petition to the Supreme Court, urging for an investigation by a special investigation team (SIT) under judicial supervision into an alleged scam in electoral financing using electoral bonds (EBs). The EB scheme, scrapped by the apex court on February 15, anonymized political donations. 

The petition asserts that recent EB data, released under Supreme Court orders, suggests that a significant portion of these bonds were utilized in "quid pro quo" arrangements between corporates and political parties. These arrangements, according to the petition, were aimed at securing fiscal benefits or evading actions by central agencies such as the CBI, ED, and Income Tax department.

“Though these apparent pay offs amount to several thousand crores, they appear to have influenced contracts worth lakhs of crores and regulatory inaction by agencies worth of thousands of crores and also appear to have allowed substandard or dangerous drugs to be sold in the market, endangering the lives of millions of people in the country. That is why the electoral bonds scam has been called by many astute observers as the largest scam in India so far, and perhaps in the world,” stated the petition filed.

"The data indicates that private companies have funneled substantial funds to political parties as 'protection money' against government agencies or as 'bribes' for undue advantages," the petition added.