Black Money in India
Political Funding and Black Money
How cash donations to political parties fuelled black money, the electoral bonds scheme of 2018, and the Supreme Court striking it down in February 2024.
Political funding has long involved black money.
Cash donations
Parties didn’t have to disclose donors of small cash amounts, allowing hidden funding.
Cash limit
In 2017, the limit on anonymous cash donations was cut to ₹2,000.
Electoral bonds
- Introduced in 2018, letting donors buy bonds from SBI and give them to parties anonymously.
- Supporters: moved funding to banks.
- Critics: made funding opaque.
Supreme Court
In February 2024, the Supreme Court struck down electoral bonds as unconstitutional, and donor data was published.
Elections
Election spending often exceeds legal limits.
The published data
After the 2024 ruling, data revealed which companies bought electoral bonds and which parties redeemed them.
Thinking political funding is fully transparent
Much was opaque.
Key takeaways
- Cash donations hid political funding.
- The anonymous cash limit is ₹2,000.
- Electoral bonds came in 2018.
- The Supreme Court struck them down in 2024.
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