Supreme Court Strikes Down Electoral Bond Scheme, Calls It 'Unconstitutional'. Here Are Top Seven Things The Judges Said

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "The Supreme Court on February 15 scrapped the Electoral bond Scheme that allowed anonymous funding to Political parties Court's five-judge CJI DY Chandrachud, and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra pronounced the judgement.
The apex court said that the Scheme violates the right to information (RTI), and can lead to quid pro quo.“Electoral bonds scheme is not the only scheme to curb black money. There are other alternatives,\" the top court added LIVE | Electoral Bonds Scheme verdict LIVE updates: SC strikes down EBS, calls it 'unconstitutional'Here are the top 7 things the judges saidChief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on the Electoral Bond Scheme said:- Financial support via electoral bonds to political parties can lead to a quid pro quo arrangement.- The electoral bonds scheme is not the only scheme to curb black money. There are other alternatives.- Infringement to the right to information is not justified by the purpose of curbing black money.- Not all political contributions are made with the intent to alter public policy. Students, daily wagers etc also contribute. To not grant an umbrella of privacy to political contributions only because some contributions are made for other purposes is not impermissible.- This court recognised the right to information about social, cultural, political and economic issues, and that it is not limited to state affairs but to further participatory democracy principle.- There are two opinions, one by myself and another by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Both arrive at the same conclusion. There is a slight variance in the reasoning.- Issuing bank shall forthwith stop the issue of electoral bonds. \"The State Bank of India shall furnish the details of donations through electoral bonds and the details of the political parties which received the contributions,\" CJII added Read | SC strikes down electoral bonds scheme, directs bank to stop issuance of bonds - 5 key highlights of the judgmentReactions Pour InCommenting on the SC's judgement, advocate Prashant Bhushan called the SC's judgement“significant” and likely to“have a long-term effect on our electoral democracy”.\"In a very significant judgement which will have a long-term effect on our electoral democracy, the Supreme Court has struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme and all the provisions that were made to bring it into effect in the income tax act, in the Companies Act etc. everything has been struck down. They have held that this violates the fundamental right to information of citizens to know about who is contributing this much money to political parties,\" Bhushan told PTI Read | Supreme Court strikes down Electoral Bond Scheme: What is it? Who has the most funding? and concerns explainedSenior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict on the Electoral Bonds Scheme. The Congress leader wrote on the X platform, \"The Supreme Court has held the much-touted Electoral Bonds scheme of the Modi Sarkar as violative of both laws passed by Parliament as well as the Constitution of India. The long-awaited verdict is hugely welcome and will reinforce the power of votes over notes\".

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