Electoral Bonds Case Hearing : Live Updates From Supreme Court

Bhushan: It destroys and disturbs democracy in the country. Because it does not allow a level playing field between political parties which are ruling versus opposition parties; or between political parties and independent candidates

Bhushan: And you have removed the cap on corporate donations and amended FCRA!

Bhushan: And virtually all bonds have been purchased by corporates, by companies. Because they're all denominations of 1 cr and above. 95% are in denomination of 1 crore.

Bhushan: More than 50% have been received only by the ruling party at the Centre and the rest have only been received by ruling party in States. Virtually nothing - not even 1% has been received by opposition parties which aren't ruling in opposition states.

Bhushan: Right of information is a fundamental right. This court has held that every citizen has a right to know about the assets and liabilities of every candidate, criminal antecedents...

Bhushan: It defeats the people's right to be informed about the sources of funding of political parties. This is a fundamental right of citizens under Art 19(1)(a).

Bhushan: Any amount, even if it is a pure shell company- which means, no business, no profits, just an amount received from its parent company which is registered in a tax haven- and that amount is given to a political party.

Bhushan: They removed the limit of 7.5% of the annual profit for companies. So even if you're a loss making company or a company which does no business - a pure shell company - you can donate.

Bhushan: Not even the election commission can know. The parties aren't obliged to inform. They may even say we don't know who gave.

Bhushan: All that the political parties will have to disclose is that out of the total donations they received, they received 500 crores by Electoral Bonds. That's all. That match of who purchased this bond and which party enchashed- it can only be done by State Bank.