The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): The Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgment on Thursday (February 15), declared the Electoral Bonds Scheme unconstitutional, stating that it violates the right to information protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The decision, unanimously reached by a Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, concludes a series of hearings that began in November on the contentious scheme.
The bench, which also included Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, had deliberated on the implications of anonymous electoral bonds on the transparency of political contributions and the principles of free and fair elections. While Chief Justice Chandrachud delivered the leading judgment, Justice Khanna offered a concurring opinion with a slightly divergent rationale.
Central to the Court’s ruling was the assertion that knowledge of political party funding is integral to the effective exercise of voting choice, highlighting the essential nature of open governance. The Electoral Bonds Scheme, the Court found, obscured the transparency of political contributions, thereby infringing upon the public’s right to information and failing the restrictive means test of the doctrine of proportionality.
As a result, the Court has instructed the State Bank of India (SBI) to cease the issuance of electoral bonds immediately. SBI is also directed to provide the Election Commission of India (ECI) with detailed information on the bonds issued since the interim order of April 12, 2019. This includes data on purchasers and recipients, which the ECI is then required to publish on its website by March 13, 2024.
Further, the Court ordered that any electoral bonds yet to be cashed within their validity period should be returned by political parties to the purchasers, with SBI responsible for refunding the amounts.
The petitions challenging the scheme were driven by concerns over the lack of transparency and potential misuse of anonymous contributions for political financing. Advocates Kapil Sibal, Prashant Bhushan, Shadan Farasat, Nizam Pasha, Vijay Hansaria, and Sanjay Hegde represented the petitioners, while Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Union Government.
The judgment is a significant step toward reinforcing the principles of accountability and transparency in India’s electoral financing.