Supreme Court has today given its verdict on the petitions filed against the validity of the electoral bond scheme. In its decision, the Supreme Court has banned electoral bonds. The Supreme Court called it unconstitutional and asked the government to consider some other option. Criticizing the Electoral Bond Scheme, the Supreme Court said that it is very important to get information about the funding being received by political parties.
The bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjeev Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra gave a unanimous verdict on the case. Although there were two different views in the bench, the bench unanimously ruled to ban electoral bonds. In its decision, the Supreme Court has ordered SBI Bank to provide complete information about electoral bonds from 2019 till now. A five-member Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had reserved the verdict in the case on November 2 last year, which was pronounced today.
According to the Electoral Bond Scheme, electoral bonds could be purchased by any citizen of India or any entity established in the country. Any person could purchase electoral bonds, either singly or in association with other persons. Political parties registered under Section 29(A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and securing at least one per cent of the votes in the last elections to the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly can obtain electoral bonds. The bonds can be encashed by an eligible political party