Electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional, declares Supreme Court
DY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India, stated that these electoral bonds violate fundamental rights and are not the only method to curtail black money.
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Supreme Court out rightly declares electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional
The Supreme Court (SC) rejected the validity of the electoral bonds scheme by declaring it unconstitutional. It struck down the poll bonds scheme by pronouncing that they violated the Right to Information Act under Article 19(1) (a).
DY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India, stated that these electoral bonds violate fundamental rights and they are not the only method to curtail black money.
SC has asked the State Bank of India (SBI) to cease the sale of poll bonds and to furnish the donations’ (Done solely for quid pro quo purposes) details via electoral bonds and the same for the political parties that got the contributions with the Election Commission (EC) by 6th March. SBI has been asked to publish the same on the website by 13th March 2024.
So what are electoral bonds?
To increase transparency, the government introduced the scheme on 2nd January 2018 as it was labeled to be a substitute for money offered to political parties. The electoral bonds, similar to bearer bonds or promissory notes, can be bought by any association, business, corporation or person who should be an Indian citizen.
These are sold, in compliance with KYC regulations, in multiples of various denominations such as Rs 1000, 10000, 1 lakh, 10 lakhs, and 1 crore. These bonds are supposed to be anonymous; the donor’s name and associated details are not mentioned in the document. Also, there is no restriction on the number of bonds one can buy.
According to the scheme, the political parties which are registered under the section 29A of the1951, and those who had got a minimum of 1 percent of the total votes in the latest Lok Sabha or Legislative elections were eligible to get the poll bonds.
Earnings of political parties through electoral bonds
In FY23, BJP has received around Rs 1300 crore through electoral bonds. It got 2120 crore, out of which 61 percent was via electoral bonds 2022-23. The Congress received around Rs171 crore in FY23 while the Samajwadi got Rs 3.2 crore through the bonds in FY23.
