Elections in India: Political Funding or Politics of Funding

Funding for any election, whether for a Municipal Council, State, Nation, or even ICAI is a burning issue.

Recently, the five judge-bench of the Supreme Court of India (SC) struck down the anonymous Electoral Bond Scheme (EBS) as unconstitutional and directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to stop issuing electoral bonds immediately. SC held that electoral bonds violate the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of speech and expression. SC held that voters have the right to know who funds political parties and their campaigns under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution.¹

1 https://www.newindianexpress.com/explainers/2024/Feb/25/explainer-ctrl-delete-electoral-bonds

So, what was EBS?

Electoral Bonds were like promissory notes. They were interest-free bearer instruments, payable to the bearer on demand. These bonds could be purchased by any citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India. These bonds could be donated to any political party registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and which secured not less than 1 per cent of votes polled in the last general election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State. Only SBI was authorised to issue these bonds. They