"Ray Of Hope For Democracy," Says Kapil Sibal After SC Verdict On Electoral Bonds Scheme

After a five-judge bench of Supreme Court striking down the Electoral Bonds scheme as unconstitutional Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal called SC's decision "a ray of hope for democracy".

Soon after a five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra delivered a unanimous verdict on Thursday striking down the Electoral Bonds scheme, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal reacted calling Electoral Bonds scheme as the "brainchild" of late BJP leader Arun Jaitley.

The bench was ruling on a batch of pleas challenging the legal validity of the Central Government's Electoral Bonds Scheme, which allows for anonymous funding to political parties.

"This is a huge ray of hope not just for a, b or c political party but for democracy itself. It's a huge ray of hope for the citizens of this country," said Kapil Sibal.

"This whole scheme which was the brainchild of my late friend Arun Jaitley, which was in fact choreographed to enrich the BJP. Because everybody knew that the BJP was in power and that any donations through the electoral bond scheme would come to the BJP," added Sibal.

Sibal further spoke about BJP's alleged connection with the corporate sector and claimed that the party has received the largest number of donations amounting from five thousand cores to six thousand crores.

"But the interesting part is that this electoral bond scheme had nothing to do with elections. It was really the bonding between. the corporate sector and the BJP which received the largest number of donations, and the donations they received over the years amounted to about five to 6000 cores," said Sibal.

"Now with 5000 to 6000 cores in your kitty which is not to be used in elections at all. You can build your infrastructure as a political party. You can build the infrastructure for the RSS. You can set up your communication network throughout the country." added Sibal.

Earlier while delivering its judgement, the Supreme Court bench said that the petitions had raised two main issues; whether amendments are violative of right to information under Article 19(1)(a) and whether unlimited corporate funding violated free and fair elections.

The CJI while reading out his judgement said that the Supreme Court holds that anonymous electoral bonds are violative of Right to Information and Article 19(1)(a).

The Supreme Court said that information about corporate contributors through Electoral Bonds must be disclosed as the donations by companies are purely for quid pro quo purposes.

The court held that amendments in the Companies Act permitting unlimited political contributions by companies is arbitrary and unconstitutional. The Supreme Court said infringement to the Right to Information is not justified for the purpose of curbing black money.

(ANI)