Corporate Donations And Political Funding: Transparency Gaps After The Electoral Bonds Judgment

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Anurag Singh, Lovely Professional University, Punjab Shreyanshi Yadav, UPES, Dehradun

ABSTRACT

This study critically investigates the transparency gaps in corporate donations and political funding following the landmark 2024 Supreme Court judgment striking down the Electoral Bonds Scheme in India. Employing a doctrinal legal research methodology, the paper examines the constitutional imperatives underlying electoral finance, the regulatory framework governing corporate contributions under the Companies Act, 2013, and the legislative amendments challenged in court. It systematically analyzes the Court's jurisprudential reasoning centered on the fundamental right to information under Article 19(1)(a) and the principle of free and fair elections as intrinsic to the Constitution's basic structure. Despite judicial repudiation of the anonymity granted to corporate donors under the scheme, the paper identifies persistent structural lacunae and regulatory ambiguities that continue to obstruct effective disclosure of political funding sources. The analysis draws on post-judgment policy developments, judicial directions, and empirical data, elucidating how the interplay between corporate governance norms and political finance mechanisms sustains opaque funding channels. The study concludes by proposing legislative and judicial reforms aimed at fortifying democratic integrity through enhanced transparency and accountability in political funding, emphasizing the necessity of balancing donor privacy with the electorate's right to scrutinize influence in electoral democracy.

Keywords: Transparency gaps, Electoral finance, political funding, donor privacy, electoral democracy.

536. CORPORATE DONATIONS AND POLITICAL FUNDING- TRANSPARENCY GAPS AFTER THE ELECTORAL BOND

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