The SC step also scraps amendments to I-T Act, Companies Act, allowing anonymous, limitless non-disclosed company contributions, as all these are in violation of Fundamental Rights.

All these factors lead to one fact that Electoral Bonds function as political funding, which is not only illegal but also unconstitutional. And yet such funding continued. Till 2022-23, for the BJP, it was the highest at Rs 6,566 crores. The cap on corporate funding is back. The contribution can go up to Rs 20,000 only and no more. The Bench also asserted that Electoral Bond scheme is not exclusively to reign in the black money, and when it is from companies, the contributions are simply business transactions. On the other hand, individual contributions are usually to boost the financial strength of the particular political party. It also turns into a pressure which is violation of democracy, since it may influence the policy making itself. The Bench also described the Electoral Bonds as means to permit unlimited corporate contributions that is an authorization to unlimited unrestricted influence over the political process.

For our democratic set up visualized by our Constitution, the apex court has taken the step to scrap a six-year-old election funding system amounting to unveiling an unholy and "unconstitutional" secret system that allowed individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits.

The largest beneficiary of the system of donations by Electoral Bonds, introduced in 2017, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has come to realise the failure of the entire initiative that had benefitted them since 2018.

Electoral Bonds have been challenged since their inception by the opposition on grounds that it was systematically kept as a secret from public view and thus violated their right to know about the source of it. Under the system, a person or company can buy bonds from the state-run State Bank of India and donate them to a political party.

Individuals can donate any amount of cash. Companies had been restricted based on their revenue and profits, but the bond system removed those limits. The Supreme Court brought reinstated corporate donation limits, saying that treating companies and individuals alike for this was "manifestly arbitrary".

"The ability of a company to influence the electoral process through political contributions is much higher when compared to that of an individual... contributions made by companies are purely business transactions made with the intent of securing benefits in return," the court wrote.

The court directed SBI to not issue any more such bonds, to furnish identity details of those who bought them, and to provide information about bonds redeemed by each political party. Despite the Supreme Court making no bones about the electoral bonds being unconstitutional, Modi's government had defended the policy earlier, rationalizing their supportive stand saying it helps in rooting out the "black money" in political funding, allowing donors a confidential channel to contribute to any party's funds.

Under the system, a person or company can buy bonds from the state-run State Bank of India and donate them to a political party. Undeclared individuals and companies bought 165.18 billion rupees (1.99 billion dollars) of such bonds up to November 2023, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms, a non-government civil society group working on election funding in India. The group was a petitioner challenging the system. A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said: "Political contributions give a seat at the table to the contributor... this access also translates into influence over policy making."Because of the close nexus between money and politics it is possible that financial contributions "would lead to quid pro quo arrangements", the court said.

Finally the verdict came from five judge bench unanimously annulling the scheme, saying it violates Constitutional Rights to freedom of speech and expression and Right to information. It has been since demanded long by the progressive , democratic sections of the populace that elections must be manned by state funding and expenses never should go beyond that . It should be binding for all political parties. (IPA Service)