In a unanimous verdict, the Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud , has held the electoral bonds scheme is unconstitutional and is violative of Article 19(1)(a)the Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud , has held the electoral bonds scheme is unconstitutional and is violative of Article 19(1)(a). It also held that the amendment to Section 182 Companies Act, which allowed corporate political funding, as unconstitutional.
The Bench directed the State Bank of India, the sole issuer of electoral bonds, to immediately stop its issuance and furnish the details of donations through electoral bonds and the details of the political parties which received the contributions by March 6, 2024.
It also directed the Election Commission to the details on electoral bonds on the website by March 31, 2024.
Electoral bonds still not encashed by political parties should be returned to the bank, which will refund the purchaser.
The Bench held unconstitutional the amendments to Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, which exempted political parties from keeping a detailed record of contributions received through electoral bonds.
The court also declared unconstitutional and arbitrary a proviso introduced to Section 29C of Representation of People Act, exempting political outfits from publishing political parties contributions received through electoral bonds.
Chief Justice Chandrachud, speaking for the Bench, found the amendment to Section 182 of the Companies Act, 2013 manifestly arbitrary. The amendment had knocked off the upper limit on how much a company could donate to a political party. The court said this amendment treated political contributions from corporate houses and individual voters alike, and violated the principle of ‘one person, one vote’.
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