Electoral bonds

Electoral bonds were a mode of funding for political parties in India. It was introduced in 2018 and a public interest litigation was started against it in 2020 by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The law struck down as unconstitutional by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on 15 February 2024. The State Bank of India was directed to cede the identities and other details of donors and recipients to the Election Commission of India, which was to publish them on its website.

On 7 November 2022, the Electoral Bond scheme was amended to increase the sale days from 70 to 85 in a year where any assembly election may be scheduled. The decision on Electoral Bond (Amendment) Scheme, 2022 was taken shortly prior to the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, while the Model Code of Conduct was implemented in both the states.

Ahead of the 2019 General Elections, Congress announced its intention to eliminate electoral bonds, if the party is elected to power. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has also opposed the scheme, and was the sole national party to refuse donations through electoral bonds.

On 15 February 2024, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, unanimously struck down the electoral bonds scheme, as well as amendments to the Representation of People Act, Companies Act and Income Tax Act, as unconstitutional. They found it "violative of RTI (Right to Information)" and of voters’ right to information about political funding under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. They also pointed out that it "would lead to quid pro quo arrangements" between corporations and politicians.

The State Bank of India was asked to hand over details of donors and recipients to the Election Commission of India by 6 March, and the ECI was to publish these online by 13 March. However, the SBI failed to submit the details by 6 March, and approached the Supreme Court asking for more time. The court turned down this request, following which the details were turned over to the ECI and published on their website.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.