64.74% of electoral bonds redeemed between March 2018 and November 2022

A Supreme Court Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud and Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, in February this year directed the electoral bond matter to be listed in the third week of March.

The scheme, notified on January 2, 2018, allows individuals (who are citizens of India) and home-grown companies to donate these bonds — issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 1 crore — to political parties of their choice that have to redeem them within 15 days.

An individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. No limit exists on the number of electoral bonds that a person or corporate entity can purchase.

The number of bonds not cashed within the validity period of 15 days shall be deposited by the authorised bank with the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

So far, 160 bonds amounting to a total of Rs 23.68 crore (0.21 per cent) were deposited with the PMNRF. Thus, 99.79 per cent of bonds purchased during the 23 phases were encashed by political parties within the validity period.

At least 13,026 electoral bonds worth Rs 7,409.23 crore, or 64.74 per cent of total electoral bonds redeemed between March 2018 and November 2022, were encashed in New Delhi (while the maximum value of bonds was purchased in Mumbai) where national parties’ headquarters are located.

Source: Association for Democratic Reforms