Key Observations and Directions Of Supreme Court
Here are the major observations on which Electoral Bonds Scheme has been declared as Unconstitutional and we attached the orders by the Supreme Court to the different organizations.
- The Supreme Court has found that the Electoral Bonds Scheme and its certain provisions related to the Income Tax Act and Finance Act 2015 were the direct violation of Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution.
- State Bank of India (SBI) has been ordered to cease the process of issuing electoral bonds immediately.
- SBI is required to provide all details of the political parties that have received the electoral bonds. They need to provide the details of the particulars such as purchase dates, purchaser names, and bond denominations to the Election Commission of India by 6th March of this year.
- SBI must disclose all the details related to each encashed bond till now.
- The Election Commission of India has been ordered to publish the received information from SBI on its official website by March 13th of this year.
- Electoral bonds that are not encashed by different political parties need to be returned and refunded to the purchasers on an immediate effect.
Electoral Bonds Scheme Unconstitutional: Supreme Court
Electoral Bonds Scheme Unconstitutional: The Supreme Court strikes down the anonymous poll funding system or the Electoral Bonds Scheme on 15th February 2024 at 10:30 AM. In this landmark verdict, the Supreme Court clearly states that the Electoral Bonds Scheme is “Unconstitutional” in nature as it violates the right to information under Article 19(1)(a). The particular scheme was announced in the Union Budget speech for the very first time by the Union Finance Minister Late Arun Jaitley in 2017.
In this verdict, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud ordered that the banks should stop selling electoral bonds with immediate effect. They also told the State Bank of India to give a detailed report to the Election Commission of India detailing all the electoral bonds that were sold from April 12, 2019, till now.
In this article, we are going to discuss the Electoral Bonds Scheme with its history, features, and related loopholes in detail. We will also cover the news of the Electoral Bonds Scheme which is struck down by the Supreme Court of India.
Table of Content
- What is the Electoral Bond Scheme?
- Why it is in the News?
- Electoral Bonds – Overview
- Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme
- Key Observations and Directions Of Supreme Court
- Effects – Electoral Bonds Scheme Unconstitutional : Supreme Court
- Concerns Related to the Electoral Bonds Scheme
- Transaction Toll Through Electoral Bonds Scheme – Party Wise
- Electoral Bonds Scheme – Data Released by the Election Commission of India
- Top 10 Regional Parties Income (₹) in FY 2021-22 (Unknown Sources)
- Electoral Bonds – Bond Numbers