SC brings an end to electoral bond era

Amendments unconstitutional; violates right to information'

- Krishna Yadav

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday brought the axe down on the electoral bonds scheme and ordered publication of its transaction details, ending the controversial model touted as a way to clean up campaign finance but criticized for its secrecy.

In a unanimous judgement, a constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said amendments made to laws governing elections, taxation and corporate donations to facilitate the rollout of the scheme were unconstitutional and violated citizens' right to information.

The apex court directed State Bank of India (SBI), the sole issuer of electoral bonds, to stop it immediately, and asked the bank to submit names of bond buyers, the dates of purchase and amounts donated to the Election Commission (EC) by 6 March; the EC must publish these on its website by 13 March.

Introduced in the 2017 Union budget, the scheme allows citizens and local companies to purchase these bonds to donate any amount to political parties of their choice. Like ther bearer instruments, it does not carry the name of the buyer or payee, no ownership information is recorded, and its holder is presumed to be its owner. While the government has claimed that such anonymity is critical to prevent retribution to donors, critics have called it a violation of citizens' right to know who is funding whom.

The judgement may have significant implications on campaign finance, particularly in light of the forthcoming general election, likely to be announced in the second week of March.