Re-evaluating the ECI's Role in Curbing Electoral Malpractices : A Post-Electoral Bonds Perspective

Re-evaluating the ECI’s Role in Curbing Electoral Malpractices : A Post-Electoral Bonds Perspective Piyush Singh* This paper looks at the Election Commission of India after the Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme in February 2024. For six years the scheme let companies and individuals give money to parties without the public knowing who paid whom. The Court said that kind of secrecy cuts against the voter’s right to know. The Commission, which is meant to keep elections clean, had warned against the scheme as early as 2019, yet it could not stop Parliament from changing the funding laws. Once the judgment came, the Commission had to publish the bank’s lists of buyers and encashments. That moment is a good time to ask a plain question: does the Commission have enough legal teeth to fight money-driven malpractice, or does it still depend on the goodwill of governments and parties? The paper traces the Commission’s powers under article 324, the changes made by the Finance Act of 2017, the Court’s reasoning, and the gaps that remain in daily enforcement. It argues that disclosure is only the first step. Without stronger rules on spending, quicker penalties, and a clearer distance from the executive, opacity will simply find another route. * Research Scholar Department of Law University of Allahabad, Email: [email protected]