In a historic judgment, the Supreme Court today struck down the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, holding that it violates the citizens’ right to information. The electoral bonds scheme, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, was unconstitutional and arbitrary and may lead to a quid pro quo arrangement between political parties and donors. The Constitution bench of five… Continue reading "Supreme Court scraps electoral bonds"
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission to furnish data on which political parties had received how much donation through the electoral bonds scheme till September 30, while saying the scheme suffered from “serious deficiencies” and “opacity”. However, the five-judge constitution bench made it clear that removing the deficiencies was the job of the legislature and that the… Continue reading "SC seeks data on donations through electoral bonds"
The Supreme Court Wednesday said the problem with electoral bonds scheme is that it provides for “selective anonymity” and “selective confidentiality” as the details are available with the State Bank of India (SBI) and can also be accessed by the law enforcement agencies. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud observed the problem with the scheme… Continue reading "Selective confidentiality in electoral bonds may not suffice: SC"
Ahead of the 2024 general election, the Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to take up petitions challenging the Electoral Bonds Scheme for final hearing on October 31 after petitioners chose not to argue on the scheme being passed as a Money Bill. At the outset, Attorney General for India R Venkatramani told a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of… Continue reading "SC to decide validity of electoral bonds before 2024 LS elections"