Financial footprint: BJP's 57% electoral bond share echoes national political landscape

When donors initially purchased these bonds, they did so under the protection of a legal guarantee, ensuring their anonymity and shielding them from unwarranted scrutiny or malicious targeting.

The Supreme Court on Thursday (Feruary 15) invalidated the electoral bonds scheme, introduced in 2018 as an initiative to enhance transparency in political funding. The scheme allowed political parties to receive funds in the form of electoral bonds, offering an alternative to cash donations.

However, the recent ruling raises critical questions about the legal rights of donors who participated in the scheme, operating under a legal guarantee of anonymity.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reportedly secured 57% of its total funds through electoral bonds, a figure that closely aligns with the party's dominance, ruling over 58% of India's land and encompassing 57% of the population area.

The unique intersection of political power and funding mechanisms raises concerns about the rights of donors who contributed under the assurance that their identities would remain confidential.

The Supreme Court's directive to retrospectively disclose the names of electoral bond donors has sparked debates on the potential violation of donors' legal rights.

When donors initially purchased these bonds, they did so under the protection of a legal guarantee, ensuring their anonymity and shielding them from unwarranted scrutiny or malicious targeting.

While the court's decision aims to enhance transparency in political funding, the retrospective disclosure of donor names raises questions about the sanctity of a legal regime established by Parliament. Critics argue that the court could have opted for a prospective disclosure, applying the ruling to new donors who would be aware of the legal consequences.

The Supreme Court's unanimous verdict, delivered by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, is a complex ruling that challenges the amendments introduced by the Finance Act, 2017.

These amendments, affecting The Representation of the People Act, 1951, The Income-tax Act, 1961, and The Companies Act, 2013, facilitated the electoral bond system by removing donation limits for companies and eliminating the need for public declaration and record-keeping of donations made through electoral bonds.