Electoral Bonds Case: Bar Association Head Seeks Presidential Reference To Supreme Court Verdict

Even as the State Bank of India has submitted data pertaining to the electoral bonds over the years to the Election Commission of India, the chairman of the All India Bar Association has written to the President, seeking a reference in the matter so that the entire proceeding could be reheard and complete justice be ensured.

Dr. Adish C. Aggarwala, who is also the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, has penned the letter.

According to the letter, if the information that the top court has sought to be made public is made public, then "it will shatter the reputation the nation enjoys in the international arena."

The most dangerous part of the top court's judgement in the electoral bonds case is its direction to the Election Commission of India to correlate the donations and make public which political party received how much from which corporate entity, the letter said.

"It has the potential to sound a death knell to both parliamentary democracy and corporate freedom in our nation," he wrote in the letter, adding that revealing the names of entities that have contributed to different political parties would render them vulnerable to victimisation.

"This will be reneging on the promise given to them while accepting their voluntary contributions," the letter said.

The entities, it said, had a legitimate expectation that the discretion guaranteed under the scheme would not be breached.

The top court shouldn't allow itself to deliver judgements that create a constitutional stalemate, undermine the majesty of the Parliament of India, the collective wisdom of the people’s representatives gathered in the Parliament, and create a question mark over the very democratic functioning of political parties themselves, the letter states.

It must be noted that the Supreme Court Bar Association has clarified in a media statement that it has not authorised SCBA President Adish C. Aggarwala to write to the President of India to not enforce the Electoral Bonds verdict.

SCBA condemns his letter saying it’s an attempt to undermine the authority of the top court.

Article 143 of the Constitution of India talks about the power of a president to consult the apex court on a matter of public importance.

It says that if the President thinks that a legal or factual issue has come up or is about to come up that's so important to the public that it would be best to get the top court's opinion on it, the question can then be sent to the court for its opinion.

The court can then give its opinion on the reference.

The court isn't bound to give its opinion on the reference, and it can refuse to comment on the reference if the questions are incapable of being answered constitutionally.

In addition, a presidential reference cannot be used as a medium to appeal against a judgment of the top court.