New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued a decisive verdict invalidating the electoral bond. Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud opined that it is unconstitutional to keep information about funds secret in the election bond scheme introduced by the central government to donate to political parties.
A 5-member bench headed by the Chief Justice ruled that the people have the right to know the details of the funds received by the political parties.
The court directed SBI to provide the information. Electoral bond scheme is to buy electoral bonds from a recognized bank and donate them to political parties. The bonds received can be converted into cash by the party within 15 days.
The receiving political party will know who the donors are through the bonds. Meanwhile, other parties do not know. The Center had argued that this confidentiality was intended by the donors and that the scheme was devised keeping in mind practicality. But these arguments were rejected by the Supreme Court. Bonds have been issued since 2018.
