The electoral bond system permitted individuals and companies to contribute funds to political parties anonymously and without any constraints.
The Supreme Court declared the electoral bonds scheme "unconstitutional" in a landmark ruling on Thursday. The top court ruled that the scheme violates the right to information under Section 19(1)(a), as information regarding political party funding is crucial for electoral choices.
Introduced in 2017, the electoral bond system permitted individuals and companies to contribute funds to political parties anonymously and without any constraints.
Under this scheme, individuals and companies could purchase electoral bonds from the State Bank of India and allocate them to a political party of their preference.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Center's argument for using electoral bonds to address the black money issue is unjustified.
The Chief Justice of India declared that the State Bank of India shall immediately cease issuing these bonds and provide the Election Commission of India with information regarding donations received via this method.
The poll body has been asked to publish this information on its website by March 13.
Here Is How The Opposition Reacted To The SC Ruling:
"The Supreme Court has held the much-touted Electoral Bonds scheme of the Modi Sarkar as violative of both laws passed by Parliament as well as the Constitution of India. The long-awaited verdict is hugely welcome and will reinforce the power of votes over notes. The Modi Sarkar has been inflicting ANYAY upon ANYAY on the Annadatas while privileging the Chandadatas. We also hope that the Supreme Court will take note that Election Commission has been consistently refusing to even meet political parties on the issue of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). If everything is transparent in the voting process then why this obstinacy?"
"There’s just 1 HUGE misconception going around on the SC Electoral Bonds verdict which needs to be clarified: SC has NOT asked political parties to refund ALL electoral bond donations. Refund is ONLY of those bonds received in the last 15 days & not yet encashed. News outlets need to be careful & responsible."
"This is a huge ray of hope not just for A, B or C political party but for democracy itself. It's a huge ray of hope for the citizens of this country. It (Electoral Bond Scheme) was really the bonding between the corporate sector and the BJP which received the largest number of donations. And the donations they received over the years amounted to about five to 6,000 cores. Now with 5000 to 6,000 cores in your kitty, which is not to be used in elections at all. You can build your infrastructure as a political party. You can build the infrastructure for the RSS. You can set up your communication network throughout the country."
"It used to be kept hidden under the Electoral Bonds scheme, that from where the political parties and the government are receiving the funds, however, the Election Commission would need to tell everything from today. It’s a huge verdict."
"We welcome this. We are a petitioner, the only political party that had the locus standi to argue against electoral bonds. We are the only party that did not express any electoral bond as a matter of principle because we consider the electoral bonds scheme as a legalisation of political corruption and this had to be ended."