Amendments to the law, which allowed companies to make unlimited financial contributions to political parties under the cover of absolute anonymity, declared ‘manifestly arbitrary’
In a landmark unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down as “unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary” the electoral bonds scheme, which provides blanket anonymity to political donors, as well as critical legal amendments allowing rich corporations to make unlimited political donations.
A five-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud held that the Union government’s scheme, and preceding amendments made to the Representation of the People Act, the Companies Act, and the Income Tax Act, violated the voters’ right to information about political funding under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
The lead opinion authored by Chief Justice Chandrachud said that the absolute non-disclosure of the source of political funding through electoral bonds promoted corruption, and a culture of quid pro quo with the ruling party to introduce a policy change or for bagging a license. The scheme and the amendments authorised “unrestrained influence of corporates in the electoral process”, it said.
Explained |Why did the Supreme Court strike down the electoral bonds scheme?
Corporations vs citizens
The judgment belled the cat on the deep nexus between money and politics, saying that “contributions made by companies are purely business transactions made with the intent of securing benefits in return”. It noted that the scheme allowed the inflow of “huge contributions” by companies and multinational corporations with major business stakes in the country, overawing or even concealing the relatively small financial contributions of the ordinary Indian — the student, the daily wage worker, the artist, or the teacher — who believes in the ideologies of a political party without expecting any substantial favours in return.
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