“Electoral bonds and the political-funding reform will bring greater transparency to political funding”

In his Budget speech of 1 February 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed electoral bonds as part of a reform he said 'will bring about greater transparency and accountability in political funding, while preventing future generation of black money'. The government later told the Supreme Court the scheme was transparent, and Prime Minister Modi said in 2024 that bonds let the source of funding be traced. On 15 February 2024 a five-judge Supreme Court bench held the scheme unconstitutional as it violated citizens' right to information, and ordered SBI to stop issuing bonds and give donation details to the Election Commission.

“This reform will bring about greater transparency and accountability in political funding, while preventing future generation of black money.”

1. 15 Feb 2024 ·Supreme Court of IndiaVerified source
   Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors. (2024 INSC 113), judgment ↗
2. 15 Feb 2024 ·SwarajyaVerified source
   'Unconstitutional': Supreme Court Strikes Down Electoral Bonds Scheme For Political Donations ↗
3. 15 Feb 2024 ·Deccan Herald (PTI)Verified source
   SC ruling on electoral bond scheme in favour of transparency: Petitioner ↗
4. 1 Apr 2024 ·Deccan HeraldVerified source
   Electoral bonds help trace source of funding: Prime Minister Narendra Modi ↗
5. 14 Oct 2022 ·ThePrintVerified source
   'Eliminates black money from political funding': Modi govt defends electoral bond scheme in SC ↗
6. 16 Mar 2024 ·OpIndiaVerified source
   As usual suspects rant against electoral bonds, an old video of Arun Jaitley explaining how bonds would clean political financing goes viral ↗
7. 4 Apr 2024 ·Al JazeeraVerified source
   India's electoral bonds: 'Laundry' where corrupt firms paid, got cleansed ↗