NEW DELHI: After the Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds scheme as unconstitutional, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said that the petitions filed have been comprehensively allowed by the top court.
Speaking on the SC verdict, the senior lawyer said, "The Supreme Court has struck down the electoral bond scheme, comprehensively struck it down, and all the provisions that were made to bring it into effect in the Income Tax Act, in the Companies Act, etc. Everything has been struck down."
"They have held that this violates the fundamental right to information of citizens to know about who is contributing this much money to political parties, et cetera. They have also struck down the amendment made, which allowed unlimited political contribution being made by companies to political parties," he added.
He outlined that along with the electoral bonds scheme, the apex court has also struck down the amendment which removed the restrictions on political contributions by companies.
"So not only the electoral bond scheme but also the amendment which removed the restrictions on political contributions by companies, which were that you cannot contribute more than seven and a half per cent of your annual profit by way of political contributions. That has also been struck down as violating the level playing field in a democracy. So the petitions filed by us have been comprehensively allowed by the Supreme Court," Prashant Bhushan said.
Responding to the SC verdict, advocate Shadan Farasat said, "Supreme Court has unanimously struck down the electoral bond amendments. The amendments that were the basis of the scheme have been struck down from different enactments like the Income Tax Act and others."
"Supreme Court agreed with our submissions. The amendments which were introduced to ensure the anonymity of the scheme have been struck down and based on that, consequently, the scheme itself has been struck down," he added.
A five-judge bench of Chief Justice Inda DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra delivered a unanimous verdict earlier today, striking down the Electoral Bonds scheme as unconstitutional.
The bench was ruling on a batch of pleas challenging the legal validity of the Central government's Electoral Bonds Scheme, which allows for anonymous funding to political parties.
At the start of the judgement, CJI Chandrachud said there are two opinions, one by himself and another by Justice Sanjiv Khanna and both arrive at the same conclusion
The bench said that the petitions raised two main issues; whether amendments are violative of the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) and whether unlimited corporate funding violated free and fair elections.
The Supreme Court said that information about corporate contributors through Electoral Bonds must be disclosed as the donations by companies are purely for quid pro quo purposes.
The court held that amendments in the Companies Act permitting unlimited political contributions by companies are arbitrary and unconstitutional.
An Electoral Bond is an instrument in the nature of a promissory note or bearer bond which can be purchased by any individual, company, firm or association of persons provided the person or body is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India.
The bonds are issued specifically for the purpose of contributing funds to political parties. The Centre in an affidavit had said that the methodology of the Electoral Bonds scheme are "completely transparent" mode of political funding and it is impossible to get black money or unaccounted money.
Various petitions had been pending before the top court challenging amendments made to different statutes through the Finance Act 2017 and Finance Act 2016 on the ground that they have opened doors to unlimited, unchecked funding of political parties.
