Electoral bonds can be issued ahead of assembly polls: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea seeking a stay on the issuance of electoral bonds in April ahead of the assembly elections in five states. The Supreme Court bench of CJI SA Bobde said there are adequate safeguards in place. The Supreme Court bench of CJI SA Bobde, AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian rejected the plea against electoral bonds on Friday.

In January 2018, the Narendra Modi government launched an electoral bonds scheme for collection of funds by political parties. The scheme was announced in the 2017 Union Budget. The scheme was challenged in September 2017 by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or the CPI-M, and two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Common Cause.