Mumbai, Feb. 15 -- In a significant ruling, India's Supreme Court has declared the electoral bonds scheme, permitting anonymous funding to political parties, as unconstitutional. The court's decision includes the directive for the issuing bank to cease the issuance of electoral bonds. Additionally, the State Bank of India has been instructed to furnish details of electoral bonds purchased since 12th April 2019 to the Election Commission of India.

The court's decision was based on findings that several sections of the Representation of People Act, 1951, and the Companies Act, as amended by the Finance Act of 2017, were in violation of Article 19(1)(a) and hence unconstitutional. The court emphasized the arbitrary nature of the changes, pa...