The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was the only outfit that benefited from electoral bonds, said opposition parties in Maharashtra on Thursday after the Supreme Court struck down the political funding scheme, calling it “unconstitutional”.
The NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar claimed the electoral bonds were brought into practice to solely benefit the BJP from anonymous donors.
This scheme cannot rule out the possibility of a ‘quid pro quo’ from an individual or a company to a political party and therefore seeing the quantum of electoral bonds received by the BJP, this is a possibility, said party spokesperson Clyde Crasto.
The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the electoral bonds scheme, calling it unconstitutional’, is a very welcome move. There should be transparency and accountability of every donation that comes to a political party, Crasto said.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) said the top court has given a landmark decision over poll bonds but it should not go the way the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner happened.
The Union government sidelined SC directives and passed a law where the prime minister, a cabinet minister and the leader of opposition will select the new head of the Election Commission. This matter should not go that way, said Sena (UBT) MP Vinayak Raut.
Sena (UBT) not only welcomes the decision but it will also generate required pressure on the State Bank of India and the government to share information (about electoral bonds) with the people, he said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the electoral bonds scheme, saying it violates the right to information and freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud delivered two separate but unanimous verdicts on pleas challenging the scheme.
The SC also ordered the State Bank of India to disclose to the Election Commission the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme for political funding. The EC should publish the information shared by SBI on its official website by March 13, it said.
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First Published: Feb 15 2024 | 2:34 PM IST