Electoral bonds are being debated across the country recently. The reason is that the Supreme Court has abolished them. Apart from canceling electoral bonds, she also made extreme comments. Let's find out what the real electoral bonds are.
On February 15, the Supreme Court gave a sensational verdict canceling the electoral bonds. After that, the State Bank of India provided the details of the electoral bonds to the Election Commission as per the orders of the court. Now these details have been displayed on the official portal of the Election Commission. That is, it became clear how much donations were received by which party.
Electoral bonds
Electoral bonds are introduced by political parties to raise funds. The BJP government at the center introduced these in 2018. These are issued nationwide by the State Bank of India. These are like promissory notes. Individuals or companies buy these and donate to political parties of their choice. Political parties convert them back into cash at SBI. These bonds are also tax exempt. Bonds can be purchased at any price. There is no maximum limit. Under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, registered political parties can obtain electoral bonds only if they secure at least 1 percent of the votes cast in the previous election.
Why did the court overturn it?
The controversy started when the central government amended the law to make it unnecessary for political parties to disclose their donations. Criticism erupted. Some approached the court. There are allegations of lack of transparency in these bonds. After the introduction of these bonds, a large percentage of them went to the ruling parties in the central and state governments. The Supreme Court observed that these bonds definitely come under quid pro quo. It banned them saying they were unconstitutional. The bench said that keeping the details of donations confidential would be a violation of right to information.
