Electoral Bonds
For six years anyone could fund a political party in secret, through a bank instrument the government itself designed — until the Supreme Court struck the whole scheme down as unconstitutional. When the data was finally forced open, it showed almost all the money was corporate, and almost none of it small.
In shortFor six years anyone could fund a party in secret through a bank instrument the government designed — until the Supreme Court struck it down. Forced open, the data showed almost all of it corporate, and almost none of it small.
₹16,518 crore of bonds were sold; 94% came in the largest denomination. The party in power drew the biggest share — a feature of an anonymous, unlimited, corporate-funding channel, not a finding about one party.
Everything below is court and Election Commission record. The parties are shown by the same standard, in the order the disclosed data gives; the scheme's dates are attributed to the government in office as dated fact, not a scoreboard. The subject of this page is the instrument the Court voided, not any party. The Claims Ledger holds every tag.
A five-judge Constitution Bench unanimously struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme as unconstitutional (Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India). It held that anonymous political funding violates the voter's right to information under Article 19(1)(a) — "information about funding to a political party is essential for a voter." It separately held that removing the cap on corporate donations, which permitted unlimited corporate funding, was manifestly arbitrary and open to quid pro quo. The Court ordered the State Bank of India to stop issuing bonds at once and to hand the Election Commission the full purchase-and-redemption record for publication. Documented
What it was
The scheme was created by the government through the Finance Act 2017 and notified on 2 January 2018 (under the NDA government — a dated fact). Bonds were bearer instruments sold by the State Bank of India in denominations from ₹1,000 to ₹1 crore, valid 15 days, and anonymous to everyone except SBI, which alone held the buyer's identity. Any Indian citizen or company could buy them; any party with at least 1% of the vote could cash them. Documented
The money — almost all of it corporate
Across the scheme's life, ₹16,518 crore of bonds were sold over 30 phases. The single most telling number is not the total but its composition: 94% of the value came in ₹1-crore bonds. This was not citizens giving small sums — it was large donors, overwhelmingly companies, giving in the largest denomination available. Documented
Who received it
The Court-ordered disclosure (redemptions from April 2019 to February 2024, ₹12,769 crore) shows bonds reaching parties across the whole political spectrum. Ordered by the amount each disclosed:
| Party (ECI-disclosed) | ₹ crore |
|---|---|
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 6,060.51 |
| All India Trinamool Congress | 1,609.53 |
| Indian National Congress | 1,421.86 |
| Bharat Rashtra Samithi | 1,214.70 |
| Biju Janata Dal | 775.50 |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 639.00 |
| YSR Congress Party | 337.00 |
| Telugu Desam Party | 218.88 |
| Shiv Sena | 159.38 |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal | 73.50 |
| Aam Aadmi Party | 65.45 |
| Janata Dal (Secular) | 43.40 |
| Nationalist Congress Party | 31.00 |
| Samajwadi Party | 14.05 |
| Janata Dal (United) | 14.00 |
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 13.50 |
| Shiromani Akali Dal | 7.20 |
| AIADMK | 6.05 |
| J&K National Conference | 0.50 |
| … and other smaller recipients | — |
| CPI(M) (declined to accept bonds) | 0 |
Every major party, national and regional, across the spectrum, took bonds. The party in power received by far the largest share — about 48% to the BJP — but that is a feature of the instrument, not a finding about one party: an anonymous, unlimited, corporate-funding channel sends most of its money to whoever holds power, because that is who corporations have reason to fund. The lesson the Court drew is about the system, and it applies to whoever governs. Documented
Who paid
On the disclosed purchaser data, the largest donors were:
| Donor | ₹ crore |
|---|---|
| Future Gaming and Hotel Services | 1,368 |
| Megha Engineering and Infrastructure | 966 |
| Qwik Supply Chain | 410 |
| Haldia Energy | 377 |
The Court's stated concern was quid pro quo, and the disclosed list gives it substance without needing to allege any specific deal: the largest single donor was a lottery company (Future Gaming) then under Enforcement Directorate investigation, and several of the biggest purchasers were firms in sectors that depend heavily on government contracts and clearances. Whether any bond bought any favour is not shown by the data — the point the Court made is that a system built to hide exactly that question should not exist. Documented
- Two different totals answer two different questions: ₹16,518 cr is bonds sold over the full scheme (2018–2024); ₹12,769 cr is the redemptions the Court ordered disclosed (April 2019 onward). They are not interchangeable.
- The disclosure begins April 2019, so roughly the first year of the scheme sits outside the party-wise data.
- Figures here are the ECI/SBI-disclosed data as reported by ADR and Frontline/The Hindu and reverified; the Supreme Court judgment (2024 INSC 113) and the ECI's own PDFs are the ultimate primary record.
- The party list is shown to the level the disclosed aggregates support; smaller recipients are summarised.
Sources
- The judgment: Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India, Supreme Court, 15 Feb 2024 (2024 INSC 113) — via SC Observer's judgment summary; primary PDF at the Supreme Court site.
- The disclosed data: Election Commission of India disclosure (14–15 March 2024), as reported by Frontline / The Hindu and aggregated by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) — both reverified.
- Every figure is tagged in the Claims Ledger; aggregates in the vault's
data/bonds.csv(transaction-level data deliberately not reproduced).