Electoral Bond

Electoral Bonds were a mode of funding for political parties in India from their introduction in 2017 until they were struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on 15 February 2024.^[1] Following their termination, a five-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice directed the State Bank of India to cede the identities and other details of donors and recipients to the Election Commission of India, which was in turn asked to publish them on its website.^[2]

The course of action was introduced in The Finance Bill, 2017 during the Union Budget 2017-18 by then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. They were classified as a Money Bill^{[note 1]}, and thus bypassed certain parliamentary scrutiny processes, in what was alleged to be a violation of Article 110 of Indian constitution.^[4] Mr Jaitley also proposed to amend the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act in order to facilitate the issuance of electoral bonds by banks for the purpose of political funding.^[5]

Although introduced in early 2017, the Department of Economic Affairs in Ministry Of Finance notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 in a Gazette only on 2 January 2018.^[6]^[7] According to an estimate, a total of 18,299 electoral bonds equivalent to a monetary value of ₹9,857 crore (98.57 billion) were successfully transacted during the period spanning from March 2018 to April 2022.^[8]

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.^[9]

Ahead of the 2019 General Elections, Congress announced its intention to eliminate electoral bonds, if the party is elected to power.^[10] The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has also opposed the scheme, and was the sole national party to refuse donations through electoral bonds.^[11]^[12]

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.^[13]^[14]^[15] 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.^[2] They also pointed out that it "would lead to quid pro quo arrangements" between corporations and politicians.^[16]^[17]

The State Bank of India was asked to hand over details of donors and recipients to the Election Commission of India by March 6, and the ECI was to publish these online by March 13.^[2] However, the SBI failed to submit the details by March 6, 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.^[18]

^ "Electoral Bonds Judgment: LIVE updates from Supreme Court". Bar and bench. 15 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Krishnadas Rajagopal (2024-02-15). "Supreme Court declares electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional". The Hindu. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
^ Chhokar, Jagdeep S. (5 February 2019). "Corporate-Political Party Bond". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
^ "India Law Journal". www.indialawjournal.org. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
^ "BRIEF-India proposes to amend RBI act for issue of electoral bonds for political funding". Reuters. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
^ "GAZETTE NOTIFICATION - Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018" (PDF). Department of Economic Affairs, MoF-GoI. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
^ "Sale of Electoral Bonds at Authorised Branches of State Bank of India (SBI)". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
^ "What are electoral bonds?". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
^ "Electoral bonds: Purchase days raised from 70 to 85 each year". Mintgenie. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
^ N. K. R., Ashwani Kumar (3 April 2019). "Cong to scrap electoral bonds if given power". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
^ "Never accepted any electoral bonds funding; always opposed it: CPI(M)". 2024-02-16. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
^ "Ban on India's electoral bonds: How will it affect 2024 election?". Al Jazeera Media Network. Al Jazeera Media Network. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
^ "Electoral bonds verdict LIVE updates: Supreme Court deems EB scheme 'violative of right to information'". Hindustan Times. 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
^ Das, Awstika (2024-02-15). "BREAKING | Supreme Court Strikes Down Electoral Bonds Scheme As Unconstitutional, Asks SBI To Stop Issuing EBs". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
^ Livemint (2024-02-15). "Electoral Bonds Scheme: SC strikes down EBS, calls it 'unconstitutional'". mint. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
^ "India's Supreme Court scraps electoral bonds, calls them 'unconstitutional'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
^ "Why did the Supreme Court strike down the electoral bonds scheme? Explained". The Hindu. 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
^ Mukesh Ranjan (2024-03-15). "EC releases electoral bonds data, billionaire giants to lesser-known entities among buyers". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2024-03-15.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

[1] "Electoral Bonds Judgment: LIVE updates from Supreme Court". Bar and bench. 15 February 2024.

[TH67848211-2] Krishnadas Rajagopal (2024-02-15). "Supreme Court declares electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional". The Hindu. Retrieved 2024-03-15.

[JSCdh-3] Chhokar, Jagdeep S. (5 February 2019). "Corporate-Political Party Bond". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2023.

[5] "India Law Journal". www.indialawjournal.org. Retrieved 2024-02-16.

[6] "BRIEF-India proposes to amend RBI act for issue of electoral bonds for political funding". Reuters. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2023.

[Gazette-7] "GAZETTE NOTIFICATION - Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018" (PDF). Department of Economic Affairs, MoF-GoI. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2023.

[EBpib-8] "Sale of Electoral Bonds at Authorised Branches of State Bank of India (SBI)". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 5 October 2023.

[9] "What are electoral bonds?". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 4 October 2023.

[10] "Electoral bonds: Purchase days raised from 70 to 85 each year". Mintgenie. Retrieved 5 October 2023.

[11] N. K. R., Ashwani Kumar (3 April 2019). "Cong to scrap electoral bonds if given power". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2023.

[12] "Never accepted any electoral bonds funding; always opposed it: CPI(M)". 2024-02-16. Retrieved 2024-03-15.

[13] "Ban on India's electoral bonds: How will it affect 2024 election?". Al Jazeera Media Network. Al Jazeera Media Network. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.

[14] "Electoral bonds verdict LIVE updates: Supreme Court deems EB scheme 'violative of right to information'". Hindustan Times. 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-02-17.

[15] Das, Awstika (2024-02-15). "BREAKING | Supreme Court Strikes Down Electoral Bonds Scheme As Unconstitutional, Asks SBI To Stop Issuing EBs". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 2024-02-17.

[16] Livemint (2024-02-15). "Electoral Bonds Scheme: SC strikes down EBS, calls it 'unconstitutional'". mint. Retrieved 2024-02-17.

[17] "India's Supreme Court scraps electoral bonds, calls them 'unconstitutional'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-02-15.

[18] "Why did the Supreme Court strike down the electoral bonds scheme? Explained". The Hindu. 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-03-15.

[19] Mukesh Ranjan (2024-03-15). "EC releases electoral bonds data, billionaire giants to lesser-known entities among buyers". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2024-03-15.

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