The 'secret' about electoral bonds that you will know by March 13

The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the validity of the electoral bonds scheme saying that they are violative of the right to information and Article 19(1)(a), putting an end to the controversy surrounding it.

The matter was heard by a five-judge bench comprising the CJI, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra who heard a bunch of petitions filed against the electoral bonds scheme.

The top court ordered the issuing bank, the State Bank of India, to stop the issue of electoral bonds after it pronounced the verdict.

SC’s directive to SBI

In its verdict, the top court ordered SBI to follow directives regarding the existing electoral bonds.

The issuing bank is required to submit all the details of electoral bonds purchased since the Supreme Court’s interim order on the matter dated April 12, 2019, to date to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

These details should include information about the electoral bond including the date of purchase, the name of the purchaser as well as the amount of the bond purchased.

The State Bank of India has been ordered to provide all of these details to the ECI by March 6 following which the poll body will publish the information on its official website on March 13.

Electoral Bonds have a validity period of 15 days. Political parties shall return the amount they have not yet encashed to the purchaser after which the issuing bank will refund the amount to the purchaser’s account.

What is the electoral bonds scheme?

Introduced by the government on 2 January 2018, the electoral bonds scheme enables donors to anonymously send funds to a political party after buying bearer bonds from SBI.

An electoral bond is an instrument like a promissory note or bearer bond which any individual, company, firm, or association of persons can purchase provided the person or body is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India.