The State Bank of India (SBI) has sought time till June 30 to submit details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties. The deadline is currently March 6.
The Supreme Court on February 15 said that the electoral bond scheme – brought in by the Narendra Modi government in 2017 – is unconstitutional and violates the right to information and Article 19(1)(a). However, the court took years to hear the petitions filed in 2017 and had earlier refused to stay this scheme, meaning that as recently as January this year, hundreds of crores worth of electoral bonds were sold by the State Bank of India.
So who benefitted from this scheme, and from the delayed decision from the court?
In total, including the latest tranche, Rs 16,518.11 crore electoral bonds have been sold by the State Bank of India so far.
The 2019 Lok Sabha elections – the first general election before which electoral bonds were sold – was the most expensive election the world had ever seen until that point, Bloomberg reported. About $8.7 billion was spent by political parties, more than double of what was spent for the 2014 elections.
by Jahnavi Sen
06/03/2024