Supreme Court calls electoral bonds 'quid pro quo', asks SBI to stop issuing them ‘immediately’

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the State Bank of India to stop issuing electoral bonds immediately

Updated on: Feb 15, 2024, 11:24:03 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the State Bank of India to stop issuing electoral bonds immediately and submit all the details to the Election Commission by March 6.

The poll panel will make all the donations public within a week of the receipt of information.

“SBI shall submit details of electoral bonds purchased since April 12, 2019 till date to Election Commission,” the top court said.

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Electoral bonds are money instruments that act as promissory notes or bearer bonds that can be purchased by individuals or companies in India. They are issued specifically for the contribution of funds to the political parties.

The SBI is the only bank authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds. The lender does not print the bonds, but its authorised branches acquire them from the Centre in different calendar years.

Last year, the SBI said in response to an RTI request that 27,133 or 55.9 per cent of printed electoral bonds worth ₹15,956.3096 crore were sold in 29 tranches since the inception of the Electoral Bond Scheme in 2018.

Since introduction, at least 674,250 electoral bonds worth ₹28,531.5 crore have been printed by the India Security Press, Nashik, between 2019 and 2022, the HT report added.

The donations made under this scheme enjoyed 100% tax exemption while the identities of the donors are kept confidential, both by the bank as well as the recipient political parties.

The apex court said that the electoral bonds scheme has to be struck down as ‘unconstitutional’. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud delivered a unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas that challenged the legal validity of the central government’s electoral bond scheme.

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HT News Desk
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