Supreme Court strikes down electoral bonds as unconstitutional
Supreme Court struck down the electoral bond scheme as unconstitutional and violative of the "right to information of voters" due largely to their anonymity in a far-reaching ruling on Thursday. Also scrapped were amendments made to the Income Tax Act, the Representation of People Act and the Companies Act to usher in the 2018 scheme.
State Bank will stop issuing such bonds immediately and provide complete details on those issued since 2019 to the Election Commission of India, which will make this information public by March 13, the court said. Also, bonds issued and still within the 15-day validity period have to be returned and the money refunded to the purchaser.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been the leading beneficiary of the anonymous funding scheme and the court's decision comes just months before general elections set to be held in April-May. The scheme had been announced by then finance minister, the late Arun Jaitley, in the budget for FY18.
The electoral bond scheme was «unconstitutional, not foolproof», the court said.
The bonds and the associated amendments cited above «infringe upon the right to information of the voter by anonymising contributions through electoral bonds». The Supreme Court further ruled that «under the current scheme, it is still open to the political party to coerce persons to contribute».
SC rules electoral bonds scheme 'unconstitutional'; Here are the key takeaways from the verdict
The court refused to accept the contention of the Centre
