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Reinforces the power of votes over notes: Congress on electoral bonds verdict

While Congress MP Karti Chidambaram questioned the court's orders which allows the retaining of the encashed electoral bonds by the BJP.

South First Desk

Published Feb 15, 2024 | 1:21 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 15, 2024 | 2:00 PM

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Supreme Court of India. (Wikimedia)

The Opposition Congress welcomed the Supreme Court verdict striking down the electoral bond scheme, saying it would reinforce the power of votes over notes.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed the verdict, calling the electoral bonds scheme a “black money conversion” scheme,

Taking to X, he said, “On the day of the launching of the electoral bonds scheme, the Congress party had called it opaque and undemocratic. Subsequently, in its 2019 Manifesto, the Congress Party promised to scrap the Modi Govt’s dubious scheme.”

He wrote: “We remember how the Modi Govt, PMO and FM bulldozed every institution – RBI, Election Commission, Parliament and Opposition to fill BJP’s coffers. No wonder 95 percent of the funding under this scheme was received by BJP.”

The Congress chief hoped the verdict would bring transparency and a level playing field.

Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP said that, “BJP had made electoral bonds a medium for taking bribes and commissions.”

Power of votes over notes

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The Supreme Court has held the much-touted electoral bonds scheme of the Modi Sarkar as violative of both laws passed by Parliament as well as the Constitution of India.”

The long-awaited verdict is hugely welcome and will reinforce the power of votes over notes, he said.

“The Modi Sarkar has been inflicting ANYAY upon ANYAY on the Annadatas while privileging the Chandadatas,” Ramesh said.

“We also hope that the Supreme Court will take note that the Election Commission has been consistently refusing to even meet political parties on the issue of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). If everything is transparent in the voting process then why this obstinacy?” he said.

The Supreme Court of India struck down the electoral bonds scheme on Thursday, 15 February.

Terming the scheme unconstitutional and violative of the right to information and Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, the court has also ordered the State Bank of India to stop issuing the electoral bonds any further and submit the details of electoral bonds purchased to ECI to date.

Also Read: ‘Unconstitutional’: Supreme Court strikes down electoral bonds scheme

‘Not a level playing field’

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram questioned the court’s orders, which allowed the retaining of the encashed electoral bonds by the BJP.

Taking to the social media platform X, he said: “BJP, which has received 90% of all anonymous donations, is unaffected. While this is a welcome verdict, it doesn’t level the playing field.”

The court has, however, said electoral bonds which are within the validity period of 15 days but which have not been encashed by the political parties yet shall be returned to the purchaser. The Court asked the issuing bank to then refund the amount to the purchaser’s account.

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury, welcoming the verdict, said that the Supreme Court bench has upheld the Constitution.

He further wrote on X: “Congratulations to our Counsel Shadan Farasat and others who effectively argued the case.”

Congress leader P Chidambaram called the judgement a great victory for transparency.

Taking to X, he wrote: “The right of the people to know has been placed above all clever legal arguments marshalled to defend the illegal electoral bonds scheme.”

He further said, “The fact that the BJP cornered nearly 90 percent of the donations by corporates and high net-worth individuals will be exposed now.”

Karnataka Congress welcomes the verdict

Congress’ Karnataka unit leaders including Deputy Chief Minister fDK Shivakumar and Minister for Minor Irrigation NS Boseraju have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the electoral bonds scheme and termed it a “victory of the democracy.”

In his post on X, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said: “Anonymous electoral bonds are one of the gravest threats to our democracy, and SC landmark decision to strike it down is indeed a welcome sign.”

He added: “Democracy needs transparency to thrive, and anonymity of electoral bonds was not just compromising this facet; it was also promoting crony capitalism at the behest of the ruling party.”

“Not to mention it violates one the most fundamental principles of our Constitution- Article 19(1)(a). With this decision, SC has struck the very heart of quid pro quo in politics & upheld the citizens’ right to information about the funding of political parties. Once again, a fantastic day for democracy in India,” Shivakumar said, welcoming SC’s decision and taking a dig at the BJP.

In his post on X, Minister Boseraju said: “Today’s Supreme Court decision to strike down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional is a monumental victory for democracy. By recognizing the importance of citizens’ right to information and upholding free speech under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, the court has reaffirmed the core principles of our democratic system.”

Welcoming the verdict, Minister for Forest Eshwar Khandre said: “I welcome the Supreme Court ruling that electoral bonds are unconstitutional and should be stopped immediately. This bond scheme is a violation of the right to information and is indirect corruption.”

“Keeping the names of the donors secret and one party in the administration taking full advantage of it would have undermined the very purpose of the electoral system. The Congress has been opposing this since the beginning,” added Khandre.

“This judgment of the Supreme Court has further increased the trust and confidence of the people in the judicial system. Satyameva Jayate – Truth never dies. Finally, justice has been served. The information of all the electoral Bonds issued so far should be disclosed,” demanded minister Khandre.

Significant, historic judgement

Terming the verdict a significant judgement in the electoral democracy, advocate Prashanth Bhushan, speaking to PTI, has said, ” It will have a long-term effect on our electoral democracy; the Supreme Court has struck down the electoral Bond Scheme and all the provisions that were made to bring it into effect in the income tax act, in the companies act etc. everything has been struck down.”

“They have held that this violates the fundamental right to information of citizens to know who is contributing this much money to political parties,” he said.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction said the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the electoral bonds scheme is a welcome move and there should be transparency and accountability of every donation that comes to a political party.

NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar spokesperson Clyde Crasto claimed the electoral bonds scheme was brought to practice to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party from anonymous donors and BJP is the only party that has benefited from it since it was implemented.

‘Boon for democracy’

Former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi said, “Striking down the electoral bonds scheme is a “great boon for democracy”.

“This will restore people’s faith in democracy. This is the greatest thing that could have happened. This is the most historic judgement that we have got from the Supreme Court in the last five or seven years. It is a great boon for democracy,” Quraishi told PTI Videos.

“We were all concerned for the last so many years. Everyone who loves democracy was protesting about it. I myself wrote several articles, and spoke to the media many times. And every issue that we raised has been tackled in the judgment,” he said.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale hailed the verdict as historic. He further said, “Election commission will now have to publish the list of all electoral bond donors & parties they donated to by mid-March. The most important to watch is how many of the donors who gave electoral bonds to the BJP are individuals & companies facing ED & CBI actions.”

He further clarified that the Supreme Court has not asked to refund all the electoral bonds received by the parties, but only those received in the last 15 days and have not been encashed.

(With PTI inputs)

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