A petition has been submitted to the Supreme Court requesting the confiscation of all funds amassed by political parties through the electoral bonds scheme of 2018, which was invalidated by the Supreme Court in February this year.

The plea has urged the court to direct the Income Tax Authorities to reopen the assessments of all beneficiary political parties from the financial years 2018-2019 to 2023-2024. The petitioner seeks to have the income tax exemptions claimed by these parties under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act disallowed and to impose income tax, interest, and penalties on the amounts received through electoral bonds.

Further, the petitioner equested the form of a committee, led by a former Supreme Court judge, to investigate any illegal benefits granted as quid pro quo to donors by public authorities at the behest of political parties due to payments received through electoral bonds.

The electoral bonds scheme permitted donors to anonymously contribute funds to political parties by purchasing bearer bonds from the State Bank of India (SBI). This scheme was introduced through the Finance Act of 2017, which amended three other statutes: the Reserve Bank of India Act, the Income Tax Act, and the Representation of People Act.

Various petitions were filed before the Supreme Court challenging at least five amendments made to different statutes through the Finance Act, arguing that these changes facilitated unlimited, unchecked funding of political parties. On February 15, the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme. The Court unanimously invalidated the scheme and the amendments made to the Income Tax Act and the Representation of People Act, which had rendered the donations anonymous.

The Court held that the anonymous nature of the electoral bonds scheme violated the right to information, thereby infringing on the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. It also directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose the details of all electoral bonds purchased and encashed since April 2019. Following this directive, the SBI provided all details of the electoral bonds purchased, including the information about the political parties that received the bonds.

The petition before the Supreme Court contended that the details of the purchase and encashment of electoral bonds revealed that the funds provided by companies to political parties were intended either to avoid criminal prosecution or to gain monetary advantages through contracts or other policy decisions.