Bhubaneswar, Feb. 15 -- In a significant judgement, the Supreme Court of India has struck down several provisions of the Electoral Bond Scheme, a financial instrument introduced by the Government of India in 2018. This scheme was designed to facilitate political donations to political parties by allowing individuals and corporate entities to purchase electoral bonds from authorized banks and donate them to the party of their choice. The bonds could then be redeemed by the political parties within a specified period. The objective of the Electoral Bond Scheme was to promote transparency in political funding by channeling donations through banking channels while maintaining the anonymity of the donor. However, critics have argued that the s...