Hyderabad, Feb. 15 -- In a constitutional verdict, the Supreme Court of India, on Thursday, February 15, struck down the Central Government's electoral bonds scheme, invalidating it as 'unconstitutional' and an infringement on freedom of speech and expression.

Supreme Court said that the scheme violates Article 19 (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution. Following the verdict, the SC directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to stop the issuing electoral bonds and submit the details and particulars to the Election Commission of India (ECI) by March 6 of all political parties that received electoral bonds.

The ECI will publish the details on its official website by March 13.

In October last year, the Central government argued in the court that ...