New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous donations to political parties, stating that it violated the right to information under Article 19(1)(a).
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud delivered two separate but unanimous verdicts on pleas challenging the scheme.
Calling electoral bonds ‘unconstitutional’, the top court said, “Information about funding of political parties is essential for the effective exercise of the choice of voting. …Curbing black money and ensuring anonymity of donors can’t be grounds to defend electoral bonds or need for transparency in political funding .”
The scheme was introduced through the Finance Act, 2017.
The SC also quashed amendments made to the Income Tax Act and the Representation of People Act, which had made the donations anonymous. State Bank of India (SBI), which is the issuing bank of electoral bonds, has been asked to furnish details of the political parties that received electoral bonds since 2019 to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in three weeks. The ECI has been asked to upload such details on its official website by March 13.
Political parties should thereafter return the Electoral bonds which have not been encashed and the issuing bank should then refund the amount to the donor’s account, the court ordered.
The ruling is perceived as a blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party which has been the primary beneficiary of the electoral bond system it implemented in 2017.
