Electoral bonds verdict Highlights: Supreme Court deems EB scheme ‘violative of right to information’

The Congress on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict striking down the electoral bonds scheme, and said that it will reinforce the power of votes over notes.

The opposition party also said that it hopes that the Modi Government will stop resorting to such "mischievous ideas" in the future and listen to the Supreme Court so that democracy, transparency and level-playing field persist. (PTI)

Electoral Bonds Verdict live Updates: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was the only outfit that benefited from electoral bonds, said opposition parties in Maharashtra on Thursday after the Supreme Court struck down the political funding scheme, calling it "unconstitutional".

Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court's striking down of the electoral bond scheme, saying it is a great victory for transparency, the right to know and level playing field in elections.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court decision to strike down the electoral bonds scheme and hoped the government will stop resorting to "such mischievous ideas" in the future.

He said the Congress party had called the scheme "opaque and undemocratic" when it was launched. (PTI)

Another proof of Narendra Modi's corrupt policies is in front of you. BJP had made electoral bonds a medium for taking bribe and commission. Today this matter has been approved," Rahul Gandhi posted in Hindi on X.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction on Thursday said the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the electoral bonds scheme is a welcome move and there should be transparency and accountability of every donation that comes to a political party. (PTI)

The Election Commission should publish the information shared by SBI on its official website by March 13, the Supreme Court bench said.

The Supreme Court has directed that all the electoral bonds that have not been encashed should be returned to the banks.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “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. The Modi Sarkar has been inflicting ANYAY upon ANYAY on the Annadatas while privileging the Chandadatas.”

Advocate Prashant Bhushan on EB scheme verdict, "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,

The Supreme Court struck down Electoral Bonds scheme, deeming the scheme as unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court has asked the State Bank of India to stop issuing all electoral bonds, and to submit all the details to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Supreme Court says information about corporate contributors through Electoral Bonds must be disclosed as the donations by companies are purely for quid pro quo purposes. (ANI)

CJI Chandrachud said, “Constitution does not turn a blind eye only because there is a possibility of misuse. We have use the double proportionality standard. Clause 7(4) of the scheme tilts the balance is favour of informational privacy because it grants anonymity to the contributors but there is no nexus to balancing measures adopted.”

CJI said during the verdict, “We are of the opinion that least restrictive means test is not satisfied.. there are other means other than electoral bonds to achieve that purpose. contribution by other means of electronic transfer and electoral trusts is other restrictive means. Thus curbing black money is not a ground for electoral bonds.”

The Supreme Court holds that the Electoral Bonds scheme violates the Right to Information.

CJI Chandrachud says, “We have arrived at a unanimous decision. There are two opinions, one by myself and another by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Both arrive at same conclusion. There is a slight variance in the reasoning.”

Two separate judgments are to be delivered in the Electoral Bonds case. CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice Sanjiv Khanna have penned their separate but unanimous judgments.

The Supreme Court bench has assembled to deliver the verdict on the electoral bonds scheme.

The five judge bench of the Supreme Court - led by CJI DY Chandrachud, and comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra - is yet to assemble.

After the case was filed, the Centre released its response affidavit rejecting all the allegations of potential corruption, saying that there is complete transparency in the electoral bonds scheme.

The verdict on the electoral bonds case is expected to be announced shortly, at 10:30 am, by the Supreme Court today.

The ruling BJP received nearly ₹1300 crore through electoral bonds in the 2022-23, which was seven times more than what the Congress got in the same period through the same route.

The BJP's total contributions stood at ₹2120 crore in the 2022-23 fiscal, of which 61 per cent came from electoral bonds, according to the party's annual audited report submitted to the Election Commission. (PTI)

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday likened the electoral bond scheme to the "legalisation of political corruption" and hoped that the Supreme Court would soon deliver its verdict on pleas to scrap the scheme.

The petitioners who filed a plea against the Electoral Bonds stated that the scheme promoted corruption and steps on the citizens' right to information about political party funding.