SC verdict on electoral bond boon for democracy: Former CEC Quraishi

New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court verdict striking down the electoral bonds scheme is a "great boon for democracy", former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi said on Thursday.

A five-judge apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, 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 for political funding.

"This will restore people's faith in democracy. This is the greatest thing that could have happened. This is the most historic judgement that we have got from the Supreme Court in the last five-seven years. It is a great boon for democracy," Quraishi told PTI Videos.

"We were all concerned for the last so many years. Everyone who loves democracy was protesting about it. I myself wrote several articles, spoke to the media many times. And every issue that we raised has been tackled in the judgment," he said.

The former CEC also put out a post on X hailing the Supreme Court for the verdict.

"Electoral Bonds declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Three cheers for the SC!" The scheme, which was notified by the government on January 2, 2018, was pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding. PTI