The legality of the Central government’s “Electoral Bond” program, which permits political parties to receive anonymous funding, will be decided by the Supreme Court on Thursday. A five-judge Constitution bench will rule on a number of appeals that contest the legitimacy of the “Electoral Bond” program.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Common Cause, and the Association for Democratic Reforms filed the petitions. The hearing was concluded by the Supreme Court in November of last year.
What is the strategy behind electoral bonds?
Election bonds are financial instruments that individuals or corporate entities can purchase from a bank and donate to a political party. The political party can then exchange the electoral bonds for cash, as they were introduced in January 2018.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reported to the Election Commission that it received around ₹1,300 crore in electoral bonds in 2022–2023; this information is based on their annual audited report. In the fiscal year 2022–2023 the party received contributions of ₹2,120 crore, of which 61% originated from electoral bonds.
