SC ruling on electoral bond scheme in favour of transparency, people's interest: Petitioner

New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court's decision to strike down the electoral bond scheme will help bring in transparency in political funding and protect the interest of people, Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who had challenged the scheme in the apex court, said on Thursday.

In a widely anticipated verdict, the apex court said the electoral bonds scheme violates the right to information and the freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution. It also ordered the State Bank of India to disclose to the Election Commission the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme.

"Those who were donating money through electoral bonds were not disclosing their names. Somewhere they would want favours from the government... This verdict will make a difference. It will protect the interest of people," Thakur told PTI Videos after the verdict.

Advocate Varun Thakur, who represented her in the case, described the ruling as a historical step for democracy.

"This is a major setback for the government because the SC has directed to disclose all transactions between 2019-24. It has also directed the SBI to submit a full report to the Election Commission. And it has also directed the Election Commission to disclose that report within a week.

"So this is a very big setback... the way donations were being taken off the record. Now accountability will be fixed: whether policies have been formed to favour those who have donated. The public have the right to know this... We can say that democracy has won today." He said the government can now either revert to the schemes that were earlier in place for political funding or bring in a new scheme. He said companies running in losses were also making donations and people have the right to know how that happened, he said. PTI