-The Hindu Voters need not know the funding source of parties, A-G tells court New Delhi: Voters do not need to know from where political parties get their funds, the government argued in the Supreme Court on Thursday. The court cannot “kill” the electoral bonds scheme for the sake of transparency, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said. He argued that the bond was an experiment to eradicate black money and the court should not...

-The Hindu Business Line Ryots in the sugar belt use their own money, shun funding from mill owners Kolhapur (Maharashtra): “I have money to contribute to your election fund,” says a man in tattered clothes, taking out a soiled ?10 note from his pocket. He hands over the note with a broad smile and a promise: “I have given a note, and now I will vote.” It’s a sunny afternoon in a tiny...

-Hindustan Times From a constitutional point of view, the scheme fails the tests of rationality and non-arbitrariness Earlier this month, the Supreme Court indicated that it would hear the long-pending constitutional challenge to the electoral bonds scheme. The electoral bonds scheme, which was introduced by the government in early 2018, provides new channels for private funding of political parties, and has been subjected to severe criticism, including by a former Chief Election...

-The Hindu ‘Ensures transparency, checks misuse’ Electoral bonds have been introduced to promote transparency in funding and donation received by political parties, the government told the Supreme Court on Thursday. “They [bonds] can be encashed by an eligible political party only through their accounts with authorised banks. The bonds do not have the name of the donor or the receiving political party and only carry unique hidden alphanumeric serial numbers as an in-built...

-The Hindu The former Chief Election Commissioner on the EVM controversy, why the Supreme Court’s verdict on criminals in politics is a missed opportunity, and electoral bonds The debate on the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) refuses to settle, with political parties continuing to voice their concerns about malfunctioning machines. Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi explains how EVMs work, why he is disappointed with the Supreme Court for refusing to...