Proportionality failure did electoral bonds in

The right of voters to know outweighs other considerations. While the apex court's ruling won't solve our campaign-funding puzzle, the doctrine used has momentous implications

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Indian democracy's original sin has a way of adopting ingenious workarounds when faced with obstacles. The Supreme Court's historic ruling that banned electoral bonds (EBS) is likely to push many accountants and lawyers to devise new pathways for corporate money to finance political parties and election campaigns. There are, in some ways, similarities between the 1992 securities scam and campaign finance's current moral dilemma. In the early 90s, unscrupulous brokers found creative ways to breach artificial walls separating low- and high-yield markets; likewise, unprincipled professionals will always find ways to route money to political parties, with an implicit quid pro quo holding the promise of high yields. The apex court's ruling, even though significant, is unlikely to change the character of a democracy that has plutocracy entrenched at its core. A study has shown that while the officially declared expenditure for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections totals only 2,994 crore, the actual bill was likely to have been around 155,000-60,000 crore. The