Scrapping of electoral bond scheme good for revival of democracy: Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow, Feb 15 (PTI) Samajwadi Party on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's judgement on the electoral bond scheme for political funding saying that the decision of the apex court is good for the revival of democracy.

In a post on X, Akhilesh Yadav said, "The decision of the Honourable Supreme Court on the illegality and immediate abolition of 'Electoral Bonds' is a welcome decision for the revival of democracy. This is an exposé of the illegitimate policies of BJP. This decision is also a revelation of the BJP-corruption bond." Akhilesh also demanded the Centre reveal the amount of total sum it received under the PM Cares Fund, launched during the 2020 pandemic.

"The public is saying that the so-called PM Cares Fund brought by the BJP and various types of donations to the BJP should also be disclosed. When the accounts of the last ten years are asked from taxpayers, shopkeepers and businessmen, then why should it not be asked from BJP," he said.

In a landmark judgement on Thursday, the Supreme Court annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, saying it violates the Constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information.

In its verdict months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the apex court ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose to the Election Commission the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed that the SBI must disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties.

The information should include the date of encashment and the denomination of the bonds and be submitted to the poll panel by March 6.

The Election Commission should publish the information shared by SBI on its official website by March 13, the bench said. PTI