Electoral bonds struck down as unconstitutional

What happened

Introduced through the Finance Act 2017 and notified in January 2018, the electoral bond scheme let any person or company buy bearer bonds from the State Bank of India and donate them anonymously to political parties. The same legislation removed the cap on corporate political donations and the requirement that companies disclose recipients. The Election Commission and the Reserve Bank of India had both objected to the scheme’s design before its launch; those objections were overridden.

What the official record found

On 15 February 2024, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India unanimously held the scheme unconstitutional: anonymous corporate funding violated the voters’ right to information under Article 19(1)(a), and unlimited corporate donations were arbitrary. The court ordered SBI to disclose all bond purchasers and recipients. The disclosed data — published by the Election Commission in March 2024 — showed ₹16,518 crore in bonds sold, with the ruling party the largest recipient, and enabled reporting that matched donations against contracts, raids and regulatory decisions affecting donor companies.

Where it stands

The scheme operated for six years before being struck down; the money it channelled was received under rules the Supreme Court found unconstitutional. The full purchaser–recipient data is public and remains under journalistic and academic scrutiny.