New Delhi: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the electoral bond scheme — a mechanism that allows anonymous funding to political parties – saying it violates the right to information and the freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution. The Supreme Court in the landmark judgement that will have wide ramifications asked the State Bank of India to disclose to the Election Commission the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud delivered two separate and unanimous verdicts on the pleas challenging the scheme, delivering a major blow to the central government. While delivering the verdict, the CJI said the scheme is violative of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of Constitution.
The bench said the fundamental right to privacy also includes citizens’ right to political privacy and affiliation. It also held as invalid the amendments made in various laws, including the Representation of Peoples Act and the Income Tax laws.
It directed that the issuing bank shall stop issuance of electoral bonds and the State Bank of India shall submit details of electoral bonds purchased since April 12, 2019 till date to the Election Commission. The top court had on November 2 last year reserved its verdict in the matter.
The electoral bonds were implemented by the Centre in 2018. A press release by the Ministry of Finance in January 2018 stated the government had notified the scheme to cleanse the system of political funding. The main objective for these bonds was to reduce the influence of black money in politics and to provide a legal and transparent mechanism for individuals and corporations to contribute to political parties.
As per the provisions of the electoral bonds scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by any citizen of India or entity incorporated or established in the country. Any individual can buy electoral bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals without disclosing their identity.
It should be noted that the electoral bonds are interest-free banking instruments and any citizen of India or a body incorporated in the country is eligible to purchase them. These electoral bonds are available in multiple denominations, ranging from Rs 1,000 rupees to Rs 1 crore in specified branches of the State Bank of India (SBI). You can buy the electoral bonds by making payment from a bank account. However, the bond would not carry the name of the payee and have a life of only 15 days, during which it can be used for making donations to political parties meeting certain criteria.
Yes, after the significant Supreme Court order, the funding to political parties is likely to affected ahead of Lok Sabha elections as the transactions will come under the scanner of the top court. Moreover, the Supreme Court has asked the SBI to stop issuing electoral bonds to the political parties.
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