Electoral bonds started in Parliament in 2017. The Modi-led NDA government made it official in 2018. It’s a way to fund political parties.
The Supreme Court said the government’s Electoral Bond Scheme is not allowed by the constitution. They mentioned that it goes against the Right to Information. This decision comes as the country is getting ready for the important Lok Sabha elections in the first part of this year.
Now, let’s talk about what electoral bonds are and when they were introduced:
Electoral bonds are like special notes that anyone, whether a person or a company, can buy from certain State Bank of India branches. It’s a way for someone to give money to a political party. In simple terms, it’s a way of financially supporting a political party.
In 2017, the government introduced electoral bonds in Parliament through the Financial Bill. In 2018, the Modi-led NDA government officially implemented this way of funding political activities. The Finance Minister at the time, Arun Jaitley, supported the initiative. He explained that the goal was to stop the use of illegal money in elections, similar to what was attempted with electoral trusts during the UPA-II regime.
“India is the biggest democracy globally. But even though it has worked on its institutions for seventy years, India hasn’t made a clear system for how political funding works. In a democracy like India’s, elections and political parties are really important. But running elections costs a lot of money. Political parties spend a lot of money all year round.”
The bonds called electoral bonds are sold for 10 days every three months during the year. This happens in January, April, July, and October. There was a suggestion to extend this period to 30 days during an election year.
The Supreme Court decided that political parties are important in elections and it’s crucial to know about their funding. The court said the extra 30-day period for selling bonds was against the Right to Information under Article 19(1)(a). They declared the scheme unconstitutional.
The court told the State Bank of India to give information about Electoral Bonds cashed by political parties. The Supreme Court said SBI must give this information to the Election Commission of India, which will then put it on their website. The judges also said banks should not give out Electoral Bonds anymore.
