SC Order on Electoral Bond Donations

On 11^thApril, 2019, the Supreme Court directed all political parties to provide details of donations received in electoral bonds and the identity of the donors to the Election Commission in a sealed cover in an attempt to bring transparency around anonymous poll funding.

SC’s Directives

• The political parties were also directed to give details of the bank account of the donors.
• The order was given on a petition filed by an NGO-Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR)-challenging the validity of the scheme and sought a stay on the issuance of electoral bonds or that names of the donors be made public to ensure transparency in the poll process.
• The court would examine in detail the changes made in laws - Income Tax, electoral and banking laws to bring them in consonance with the electoral bond scheme and ensure that the balance does not tilt in favour of any political party.
• It also directed the Finance Ministry to reduce the window of purchasing electoral bonds from 10 days to five days in April-May and said it would fix a date later for final disposal of the petition.

If the identity of the purchasers of electoral bonds meant for transparent political funding was not known, then efforts of the government to curtail black money in elections would be futile