Supreme Court Trashes Electoral Bonds Scheme

New Delhi, February 15 (TNA) The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the electoral bonds scheme that allows anonymous donations to political parties by purchasing electoral bonds from the State Bank of India (SBI), saying anonymous electoral bonds violated citizens’ right to information.

Speaking about the scheme that allows anonymous donations to political parties by purchasing electoral bonds from the State Bank of India (SBI), Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said, “The right to information of the voter isn’t justified to curb black money.”

He explained, “Fundamental right to privacy includes citizen’s right to political privacy. Information about a citizen’s political affiliation can lead to subjecting a citizen to curbs or subjecting them to trolls. It can be used to disenfranchise voters through voter surveillance.”

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, had, on November 2 last year reserved its verdict in the matter. The scheme, which was notified by the government on January 2, 2018, was pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.

The Government of India announced the Electoral Bond Scheme in 2017. This scheme was legally implemented by the government on 29 January 2018. In simple language, Electoral Bond was a financial means of donating to political parties. It was like a promissory note which any citizen or company of India can purchase from select branches of State Bank of India and donate anonymously to any political party of their choice.

Electoral bonds can be purchased by any donor who has a bank account whose KYC details are available. Under the scheme, electoral bonds of any denomination of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore can be purchased from specified branches of State Bank of India. Donations can be made through electoral bonds only to those political parties which have secured at least one percent of the votes polled in the last general election for the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly.

How the case reached the Supreme Court

Four people including Congress leader Jaya Thakur, Marxist Communist Party and NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have filed petitions on electoral bonds. The petitioners contended that secret funding through electoral bonds affected transparency. It also violates the right to information.