If it hadn't been for the six-year delay in Supreme Court hearings, the unconstitutional nature of the scheme would have been determined a long time ago.

The big story this month has been the Supreme Court striking down the electoral bonds scheme. The Wire brought to you stories after the order on who had really benefitted from the big deal.

The Supreme Court on February 15 struck down the electoral bond scheme nearly seven years after it was introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in 2018.

Calling it unconstitutional and in violation of the right to information and Article 19(1)(a), the topcourt instructed the State Bank of India (SBI) to furnish the details of donations through electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (EC) which, in turn, has to publish these details on their website by March 13, 2024.

Electoral Bonds Are Illegal Now. But Who Benefitted for the 6+ Years They Lasted?

Money that exchanged hands through electoral bonds has already funded two general election cycles and multiple state elections.

See these charts at the outset for how money flowed all these years

What Needs to Be Disclosed by March 31: 5 Charts to Gauge the Cash Flow Through Electoral Bonds

Numbers reflect the BJP’s significant and towering gains from a scheme now deemed in violation of the right to information.

But this has been coming for a long time.

We have prepared a list of eight other stories you may wish to read that will bring you upto speed with how one of the biggest frauds on electoral democracy has played out over the past few years.

Its origin, its impact on election funding over the past seven years, and the vehement opposition it faced from activists, political parties, and civil society.

2019

How Finance Ministry Decided RBI’s Dissent on Electoral Bonds Meant ‘Indirect’ Approval

The Centre also insisted on protecting the identities of corporate donors, and so rejected the RBI’s recommendation that bonds be issued electronically.

Exclusive: BJpReceived Donation From Company Being Probed for ‘Terror Funding’

Weeks after Amit Shah accused NCpleader Praful Patel of treason for having bought a property from the wife of an accused terrorist, the ‘Mirchi’ factor has come back to bite the ruling party.

2020

Electoral Bond Scheme Results in Visible Dipin Transparent Corporate Donations

The three nationally recognised political parties received between 61-69.50% of their donations through the electoral bonds route.