-Pavani Priya. Akula
-Sri Padmavathi Mahila Visvavidhyalayam
TO THE POINT
In the year 2017, then finance minister Arun Jaitley introduced Electoral Bonds through Finance bill. Electoral bonds are in the form of Quid pro quo that means something for something. Electoral bonds are similar to bank notes, through electoral bonds any person, company or organisation can donate funds to political parties, but the details of the donors will be not disclosed in the electoral bonds. A company can donate from Rs. 1,000/- to Rs. 1 crore through Electoral Bonds. In 2017 government amended RBI Act, for issuing Electoral bonds. Until 2018 electoral bonds are in the form of Gazette. Government fixed time period for purchase of Electoral bonds that is January, July and October in starting 10 days of the month. Purchase of electoral bonds are done only in SBI Banks, there are 29 specified branches to buy Electoral Bonds some of them are New Delhi, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata, and Guwahati. Supreme court held that Electoral Bonds are violating the rights of voters and the funds given to Political parties through Electoral Bonds should be published by Election commission of India in their website. Is electoral bonds are constitutional?
USE OF LEGAL JARGON
Constitutional Provisions
1. Article 19(1)(a): Right to freedom of speech and expression.
2. Article 21: Right to life and personal liberty.
3. Article 14: Right to equality before the law.
Legal Concepts
1. Transparency: The quality of being easily seen through or understood; in this case, referring to the disclosure of electoral bond donors.
2. Anonymity: The state of being anonymous or unknown; in this case, referring to the confidentiality of electoral bond donors.
3. Accountability: The state of being accountable or responsible; in this case, referring to the responsibility of political parties to disclose electoral bond donors.
4. Level playing field: A situation in which all participants have an equal chance of succeeding; in this case, referring to the fairness of the electoral process.
Judicial Pronouncements
1. “The right to know is a fundamental right”: Observation made by the Supreme Court in the Electoral Bonds case, emphasizing the importance of transparency in the electoral process.
2. “Anonymity of donors is not in the interest of transparency”: Observation made by the Supreme Court, highlighting the potential for corruption and undue influence when electoral bond donors remain anonymous.
Statutory Provisions
1. The Representation of the People Act, 1951: An Act that regulates the conduct of elections in India.
2. The Finance Act, 2017: An Act that introduced the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
3. The Electoral Bonds Scheme, 2018: A scheme notified by the Government of India, providing for the issuance of electoral bonds.
Key Cases
1. Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India (2019): A case in which the Supreme Court directed the Government of India to disclose the names of electoral bond donors.
2. Common Cause v. Union of India (2020): A case in which the Supreme Court examined the constitutional validity of the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
THE PROOF
Constitutional Documents
1. The Constitution of India: Articles 19(1)(a), 21, and 14 are relevant to the case.
2. The Representation of the People Act, 1951: Regulates the conduct of elections in India.
Statutory Provisions
1. The Finance Act, 2017: Introduced the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
2. The Electoral Bonds Scheme, 2018: Notified by the Government of India, providing for the issuance of electoral bonds.
Judicial Pronouncements
1. Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India (2019): Supreme Court directed the Government of India to disclose the names of electoral bond donors.
2. Common Cause v. Union of India (2020): Supreme Court examined the constitutional validity of the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
Government Reports
1. Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018: Report by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
2. Report of the Election Commission of India on Electoral Bonds: Report highlighting concerns about the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
RTI Replies
1. RTI reply by the State Bank of India: Revealed that electoral bonds worth ₹10,000 crore were sold between 2018 and 2020.
2. RTI reply by the Election Commission of India: Revealed that the Commission had expressed concerns about the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
Media Reports
1. “Electoral Bonds: A recipe for corruption?”: Article by The Hindu, highlighting concerns about the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
2. “Electoral Bonds: Who’s buying, who’s selling?”: Article by The Indian Express, investigating the sale and purchase of electoral bonds.
Petitions and Affidavits
1. Petition filed by Association for Democratic Reforms: Challenging the constitutional validity of the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
2. Affidavit filed by the Election Commission of India: Highlighting concerns about the Electoral Bonds Scheme and its impact on transparency in elections.
ABSTRACT
On February, 15,2024 a five-judge bench (D. Y. Chandra chud, Sanjiv Khannan, B.R. Gavi, J.B. Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra) held that Electoral bonds are unconstitutional and violates the right to information, principle of equality, and electoral reforms. Coming to the present topic Supreme court received the petitions from non-governmental Organisation Association for Democratic reforms represented by Prashant Bhushan and the communist party of India they contested that amendment made for RBI Act, for the convenience of electoral bonds is not just and unconstitutional. Electoral bonds were introduced in the year 2017 by then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley through finance bill and made amendment to RBI Act, for the purchase of Electoral bonds in 2017 electoral bonds are in the form of Gazette only.
A company, co-operation or any other person can buy electoral bonds from State Bank of India at the time fixed by the government i.e., January, July, and October during the starting 10 days of these months only can purchase the electoral bonds. Through SBI specified branches electoral bonds can be purchased and some of them are New Delhi, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata, and Guwahati. The value of electoral bonds starts from Rs. 1,000/- to Rs. 1 crore whoever wants to donate funds in the form of electoral bonds can purchase the bonds from SBI specified bank and these bonds resemble a Bank bond or a cheque. The political party which receives the electoral bond should be registered under Section 29(A) of the Representation of the people Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and it must secure 1% of voting in the general elections or Assembly elections and the bank account should be verified by the Election commission of India the Electoral bond which is donated to the political parties should be encashed within 15 days by the political parties. The particulars of the electoral bond doners will not be known to the political parties who receive the electoral bond. Before Electoral bonds foreign companies has no option to donate for political parties and under sec 182 a firm can donate maximum of 7.5% of its annual profits to the political party and the details of the donation should be disclosed in its annual account statement, but after introduction of Electoral bonds foreign companies can donate to political parties according to their wish and an amendment was done to Companies Act, that when a firm donates funds to political parties through Electoral bonds then that firm need not to disclose the details of the funds in its annual account statement.
An amendment was carried out for the Electoral bonds scheme on November, 11, 2022, to increase the sales of electoral bonds from 70 to 85 in a year and this decision was taken before Assembly elections of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The decision regarding the Electoral bonds was opposed by the Congress Party and Communist party. The Communist party is the sole party in the India to refuse party funds through Electoral bonds. Congress party and communist party contented that electoral bonds are equal to money laundering and the amendment carried out for the RBI Act, for the purchase of Electoral bonds are unconstitutional.
When the petition was come to the Supreme court, on March, 18 2024, it held that Electoral bonds are unconstitutional and violates the rights of voters and Right to information and ordered State Bank of India which was the sole transactor in Electoral bonds to furnish the details of amount and donors in electoral bonds to Election commission of India and to publish in the portal of Election commission of India.
As per the records of State Bank of India a total of 22,217 Electoral bonds were purchased and 22,030 was redeemed by political parties between April 1, 2019 and February 15, 2024. From April 1, 2019, to April 11 2019, 3,346 electoral bonds were purchased and 1,609 were redeemed by the political parties. Between April 12,2019, to February 15, 2024, 18,871 bonds were bought by donors and 20,421 were redeemed by parties.
On February, 15,2024 Supreme court of India (5 judge bench) held that electoral bonds are unconstitutional and the scheme of Electoral bonds should be stuck down in India.
CASE LAWS
– Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.: This is the primary case in which the Supreme Court of India invalidated the Electoral Bond Scheme, deeming it unconstitutional on February 15, 2024.
– Rameshwar Prasad v. Union of India: This case was cited by the Supreme Court to emphasize the importance of political parties in India’s electoral process.
– Kihoto Holohan v. Zachillu: The Supreme Court referenced this case to discuss the principles of anti-defection law in relation to the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
– Swiss Ribbons v. UOI: This case was mentioned in the judgment to discuss the scope of judicial review in cases related to economic policy.
– Pioneer Urban Land and Infrastructure Limited v. Union of India: The Supreme Court also cited this case to elaborate on the scope of judicial review.
– State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain: This classic case was referenced to establish the Right to Information as a fundamental right in India.
CONCLUSION
Hence, I conclude that I agree with the decision of the Supreme court because in electoral bonds there is no particular’s disclosure there is a chance to conversion of black money into white money. By donating funds to political parties from co-operate companies there is a chance to increase of illegal activities in the society. Electoral bonds are in the form of quid pro quo i.e., something return for something which means when a company gives funds to the ruling party or government it will expect something in return i.e., tenders, mines and may use for illegal activities.
The funds donated to the party is not for the good sake of the people it is only for the political parties and no one can question about the funds of the parties. For the purchase of electoral bonds several amendments were done to RBI Act, and Companies Act. It is not necessary to make amendments for those Acts, for the profits of political parties. The funds produced through electoral bonds may misused by the political parties at the time of elections by distrusting money for voters and the funds may be shared among the members of the political party. The electoral bonds scheme will be good when the donor’s details and the how the funds were used was revealed to the public, but here no such information was known to the public.
The intension of the government is to recover the black money, but when the funds were given to political parties instead of government the money was again used for the benefits of the political parties, but not for the benefits of the common people. The funds given to political parties from the companies can eliminate maximum poverty in the country. Even without electoral bonds political parties can get funds from the companies if the funds given for political parties through electoral bonds was given to the government it may helpful in the development of the nation and it eliminates maximum poverty in the nation.
FAQ
- When was Electoral bond scheme was introduced?
It was introduced in the year 2017 by Finance minister Arun Jaitley through Finance bill.
- How many bonds are purchased from April, 12, 2019 to February, 15, 2024?
As per SBI records total 18,871 bonds were purchased by the donors.
- What is the date of Judgement by Supreme court regarding Electoral bonds?
On February, 15, 2024 Supreme court held its judgement.
- For which Act was carried out for the purchase of Electoral bonds?
RBI Act, and Companies Act was amended for the purchase of Electoral bonds.
