Electoral Bonds Scheme: What is ‘Electoral Bonds Scheme’? Before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court has given a major decision regarding electoral bonds. The Supreme Court has struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme. The Supreme Court gave its verdict on the Electoral Bond on Thursday.
Electoral Bonds Scheme
Ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court has given a major verdict on electoral bonds. The Supreme Court has struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme. The Supreme Court on Thursday gave its verdict on the petitions challenging the validity of the Electoral Bond Scheme.
Hearing petitions challenging the validity of the Electoral Bond Scheme, the Supreme Court said, “It is not appropriate to violate the Right to Information for the purpose of curbing black money. The Electoral Bond Scheme is a violation of Right to Information and Freedom of Information.”
What is Electoral Bond?
The Government of India announced the Electoral Bond Scheme in 2017. This scheme was legally implemented by the government on January 29, 2018. Simply put, Electoral Bonds are a financial instrument for donating to political parties.
It is a promissory note that any citizen or company in India can purchase from select branches of State Bank of India and donate to any political party of their choice.
Electoral bonds do not bear the name of the payer. Under this scheme, from selected branches of State Bank of India Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakhs and Rs. Electoral bonds of any denomination up to Rs 1 crore can be purchased.
Electoral bonds have a tenure of only 15 days, during which they can be used to donate to political parties registered under the Representation of the People Act. Donations through election bonds can be made only to political parties that have secured at least one percent of votes in the last Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections.
Under this scheme, electoral bonds are made available for purchase for a period of 10 days in the months of January, April, July and October.
How Electoral Bonds Work?
Using Electoral Bonds is very simple. These bonds amount to Rs. 1,000 are offered in multiples such as Rs. 1,000, 10,000, 100,000 and it can be 1 crore. You get these in some branches of SBI. Any KYC-enabled donor can purchase such bonds and then donate to any political party. After this the political party can convert it into cash.
Who gets electoral bonds?
All the registered political parties in the country get this bond, but the condition is that the party should get at least one percent or more votes in the last general election. Such registered party shall be entitled to receive donations through electoral bonds.
According to the government, through the Electoral Bond, black money will be curbed and the amount given as donations in elections can be accounted for. This will improve the election fund. The central government has said in its affidavit that the electoral bond scheme is transparent.
How much money do the parties get?
Among those challenging the validity of electoral bonds was the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR). The ADR has claimed that from March 2018 to January 2024, political parties received donations of over Rs 16,492 crore through electoral bonds.
According to the 2022-23 audit report filed with the Election Commission, the BJP has received more than Rs 1,294 crore in donations through electoral bonds. So his total earnings were 2,360 crores. That is, 40 percent of BJP’s total income was from electoral bonds.
When electoral bonds started
In 2017, the Central Government introduced the Electoral Bond Scheme in Parliament through the Finance Bill. After approval by the Parliament, the Electoral Bond Scheme notification was issued on 29 January 2018. Political parties get donations from this.
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