In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court Thursday struck down the electoral bonds scheme, calling it “unconstitutional.”
The electoral bonds scheme, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, was unconstitutional and arbitrary and may lead to a quid pro quo arrangement between political parties and donors.
Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer instruments that are essentially used to donate money anonymously to political parties. The scheme was first announced in the 2017 Union Budget speech when Late Arun Jaitley was the Finance Minister. Soon after the scheme was implemented, multiple parties challenged it in court. These included CPM, Congress leader Jaya Thakur and non-profit Association for Democratic Reforms. They argued that the confidentiality clause came in the way of the citizen’s right to information.
The constitutional bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, reserved its verdict on the matter on November 2 last year.
Stating that information about funding to political parties is essential for electoral choices, the apex court held that the scheme violates the right to information under Section 19(1)(a).
The Constitution bench of five judges held that the stated objective of fighting black money and maintaining the confidentiality of donors cannot defend the scheme. Electoral bonds, the court said, are not the only way to curb black money.
The Supreme Court directed the State Bank of India to submit details of all bonds purchased since the apex court’s interim order of April 12, 2019 to Election Commission.
