SC NIXES ELECTORAL BONDS

IN a landmark judgment, a five-member Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously struck down the electoral bond scheme notified by the BJP government at the Centre in early 2018, as unconstitutional. The verdict is a moral blow for the government ahead of the general elections.

- SUCHITRA KALYAN MOHANTY

The bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud gave the State Bank of India, the issuing bank, time till March 6 to share with the Election Commission of India full data on the purchasers of the electoral bonds and their recipients.

It went on to instruct the poll body to upload the SBI's information on its official website within a week of receipt of the data - by March 13.

The court also declared the amendments to the Income Tax Act and Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act to facilitate the electoral bonds, null and void. The CJI also said the amendment to the Companies Act that opened the door for blanket corporate political funding was unconstitutional.