Citizens don’t have right to know source of political parties’ funds’: Centre to Supreme Court

financialexpress.com:

Attorney General R Venkataramani, in a statement filed before the Supreme Court ahead of the hearing of petitions challenging the electoral bonds scheme scheduled on October 31, stated that citizens do not have the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution regarding political party funding.

A five-judge Supreme Court Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and including Justices Sanjeev Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, will deliberate on the petitions challenging the 2018 electoral bonds scheme.

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Four petitions, filed by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, CPI(M), Congress leader Jaya Thakur, and a PIL by Spandan Biswal, are under the court’s consideration.

The Attorney General rejected the petitioners’ argument that citizens have the right to know the source of political party funding, saying “Firstly, there can be no general right to know anything and everything without being subjected to reasonable restrictions. Secondly, the right to know as necessary for expression can be for specific ends or purposes and not otherwise.”

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He also clarified that judgments about citizens’ right to know candidates’ criminal antecedents for informed voting choices do not imply a right to information about political party funding under Article 19(1)(a), Live Law reported.

The top law officer of the Union said that those judgments were centered around enabling informed choices about electoral candidates and understanding their backgrounds. He underscored