Page 8 - Electoral Bond

Ex-HC Judge cheated out of Rs 2.5 cr on pretext of buying electoral bonds

Former High Court judge Justice DSR Varma claimed that two men scammed his family on the pretext of purchasing electoral bonds to fund BJP and promised favours to the family

Economist Amartya Sen hails SC's judgment on annulling electoral bonds

Eminent economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's recent judgment annulling the electoral bonds scheme, denouncing it as a scandal. Speaking to PTI from Massachusetts, USA, Sen said that the move will lead to greater transparency among people in the electoral context. "Electoral bonds were a scandal, and I am glad that they have now been dropped. I hope there will be more transparency in the support that people give to each other in the electoral context," Sen said. In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court annulled the electoral bonds scheme earlier this month, citing violations of the Constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression, as well as the right to information. The apex court directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties to the Election Commission. This information should include the date of encashment and the denomination of the bonds and be submitted to the

TMS Ep633: Electoral bonds, startup rebound, IT stocks, Sora AI

What's next after the electoral bonds ban? Are India's listed startups turning the corner? Will IT sector be the dark horse of 2024? What is Sora AI? All answers here

ECI to follow SC's order on electoral bonds issue: Poll panel chief

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday here said the poll panel will act in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court regarding the electoral bonds scheme. Speaking to reporters, Kumar said the commission always works on the basis of transparency in information flow and involvement. "In its affidavit to the top court, the commission said it is in favour of transparency and when the order is issued, it will take action as directed by the SC," Kumar said. To a question related to a case pending in the SC on conducting elections without EVMs, the chief election commissioner said, "Let the decision comeif required, changes will be made as per the court's direction." In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the electoral bonds scheme, saying it violates the right to information and the freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution. It has delivered a unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the legal validity of the cent

Banking norms likely to shield information on electoral bond buyers

Govt unlikely to issue ordinance

Legal views split on disclosure of political donations by India Inc

Before the amendment the Act required a company to disclose any amount contributed to any political party along with the particulars of the amount donated and the name of the receiving party

Never accepted any electoral bonds funding; always opposed it: CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday said it has not accepted any funding through electoral bonds and it never opened a designated SBI account as required to accept the bonds. "Reports have appeared in some sections of the media that the CPI(M) has received various amounts as contributions through electoral bonds," the CPI(M) said in a statement. "The party wishes to clarify that these reports are false and baseless. The fact is that the CPI(M) has refused to accept electoral bonds on principle. That is why it did not even open a designated State Bank of India account as required by the law to accept electoral bonds," it said. "The CPI(M) had appealed to the Supreme Court against the electoral bonds scheme because of this basic opposition," it added in the statement. In a landmark verdict just months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Supreme Court on Thursday scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and .

SC strikes down electoral bond scheme as 'unconstitutional', against rights

Orders EC to disclose donors, amount & recipients by March 13

Regional political parties get lion's share of electoral bond funds

Share of other sources has declined as a proportion of overall income

Mumbai has the largest share of electoral bonds sold since inception

Top four cities account for bulk of money coming in through the scheme

A vote for disclosure

Scrapping electoral bonds is an opportunity for reform

Highlights of the day: Lok Sabha's fifteenth session ends today

News updates: Catch all the latest updates from around the world here

State Bank of India to follow SC's verdict on electoral bonds scheme

5-judge bench of SC, comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, on Thursday barred SBI from any further issuance of electoral bonds

Electoral bonds worth Rs 16k cr sold so far, BJP got nearly 55%, shows data

Electoral bonds have accounted for more than Rs 16,000 crore worth funds contributed to various political parties so far, a lion's share is estimated to have gone to the BJP, data shows. All political parties put together received more than Rs 12,000 crore till last fiscal since the introduction of the now-annulled electoral bond scheme in 2018, of which the ruling BJP got nearly 55 per cent or Rs 6,565 crore, according to the data available with Election Commission and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). While the party-wise data for the current fiscal 2023-24 would be available later after they file annual audit reports for the year, ADR put the collective amount of funds generated through sale of electoral bonds between March 2018 and January 2024 at Rs 16,518.11 crore. On an average, these bonds are estimated to account for over half of total contributions received by the parties, though it is more than 90 per cent in case of some regional parties that are in power in thei

Electoral bonds: SC verdict will set level playing field, cheers Opposition

Electoral bonds: The Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgement on Thursday, annulling the electoral bonds scheme for political funding

SC verdict on electoral bond: Everything you need to know about it

In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, saying it violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information. But what exactly are electoral bonds? An electoral Bond is a financial instrument for making donations to political parties as has been first pronounced by the Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2017-18. According to the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018, an electoral bond is a bond issued in the nature of a promissory note, which shall be bearer in character. A bearer instrument is one which does not carry the name of the buyer or payee, no ownership information is recorded and the holder of the instrument (i.e. political party) is presumed to be its owner, explains Association for Democratic Reforms. The scheme allows individuals -- who are citizens of India -- and domestic companies to donate these bonds issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 la

Only BJP benefitted from electoral bonds, say Maharashtra Oppn parties

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 t

Electoral bonds: CPI(M) hails SC verdict, calls for reforms in funding

Welcoming the Supreme Court judgment striking down electoral bonds, the CPI(M) on Thursday said it was an "unscrupulous scheme designed to help the ruling party" and it was now essential to introduce reforms for political and electoral funding. In a widely anticipated judgement ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, saying it violates the Constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information. "The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) hails the historic judgment of the Supreme Court, which has struck down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional. By this verdict, this unscrupulous scheme designed to finance the ruling party by anonymous corporate donors has been completely scrapped," the CPI(M) said in a statement. The party had declared at the outset itself that it will not accept electoral bonds as this scheme legalizes corruption, the statement read, adding that the CPI(M) ha

Significant for transparency: AAP lauds SC's electoral bonds scheme ruling

The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision on electoral bonds, saying it is an important step in ensuring transparency in election funding. In a landmark judgement that delivered a big blow to the government, the Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the electoral bonds scheme, saying it violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information. The apex court ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose to the Election Commission the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme. "We welcome this decision. This is an important step in the transparency of election funding. Otherwise through electoral bonds, it was not known which person was giving funds to which party. It is important for country's democracy that it is known which person is giving how much money to which political party," Delhi Cabinet minister Atishi told reporters outside the Assembly. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chi

Electoral Bond Scheme: Rs 16,518 crore collected till date, Centre told LS

Electoral Bonds scheme verdict: On Thursday, the Supreme Court struck down the scheme and called it 'unconstitutional'