After the verdict: Later orders, and where the money went next
Published 5 October 2026
Friday, August 2, 2024: No SIT, no recovery, no reopening of tax assessments. In Common Cause v. Union of India (W.P.(C) 266/2024 with 421/2024, Crl 293/2024 and 450/2024), a bench of Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices Pardiwala and Misra declined a prayer for a court-monitored special probe team (SIT) led by a former Supreme Court judge. The petitioners, who included Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation with advocates Prashant Bhushan, Neha Rathi and Cheryl D'Souza, had asked for an inquiry into alleged quid pro quo between parties, public servants and companies, recovery from parties and reopening of income tax assessments. Source: Supreme Court order of Aug 2, 2024
According to The Hindu's report, the Court said the petitions rested on two "assumptions": That quid pro quo is made out whenever a bond purchase is near in time to a policy change or a contract award, and that involvement of agency officers means a fair probe is not possible. "But these are only assumptions at the present stage", the Chief Justice was reported as saying. It refused a "roving and general inquiry" and declined to exercise Article 32 jurisdiction. It called an SIT "premature and inappropriate" and said the ordinary remedies under criminal procedure and Article 226 had not been used. It also reasoned that donations "were made to political parties through electoral bonds on the basis of laws enacted by the Parliament", which is why it would not order recovery. The order text mentions the March 11 and March 18, 2024 orders. Source: The Hindu, SIT plea (Aug 2, 2024)
Wednesday, September 25, 2024: Review petitions dismissed. The order was uploaded on Saturday, October 5, 2024, which is why reports carry that date. The bench of Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices Khanna, Gavai, Pardiwala and Misra held: "Having perused the review petitions, there is no error apparent on the face of the record. No case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013. The review petitions are, therefore, dismissed." The prayer for a hearing in open court was also refused. Source: The Hindu, review petitions dismissed
September to December 2024: The Bengaluru complaint (allegations, and one court ruling on them). On Monday, September 30, 2024, the Karnataka High Court stayed the probe against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and others, as The Hindu reported. Source: The Hindu, Karnataka HC stay
On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, Justice M. Nagaprasanna quashed the proceedings against Nalin Kumar Kateel only. The FIR came from a complaint by Adarsh R. Iyer, co-president of the Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath, who alleged that around Rs 8,000 crore was extorted by compelling company heads to buy bonds for the BJP after Enforcement Directorate raids and arrests. These are the complainant's allegations, and the report does not describe any finding that they were true. The accused named were Ms Sitharaman, Mr Kateel (accused no. 4), unnamed ED officials, unnamed BJP national office-bearers, B.Y. Vijayendra and unnamed BJP state office-bearers. Source: The Hindu, Karnataka HC quashes FIR against Nalin Kumar Kateel
The High Court held that extortion under sections 383 and 384 of the IPC "is person specific", so only the aggrieved person can complain: "what the complainant projects is a huge hocus-pocus, but alas, he has no locus." It said a magistrate "cannot become a rubber stamp presiding officer" in referring a complaint to police, and "If a victim had complained that he had purchased electoral bonds, it would have been an altogether different circumstance." Relief was limited to Mr Kateel because "the other persons named in the FIR, including Ms. Sitharaman, have not filed a petition challenging the FIR." Source: The Hindu, Karnataka HC quashes FIR against Nalin Kumar Kateel
What ADR found for FY 2024-25. ADR's report of February 16, 2026 found that electoral trusts received Rs 3,826.3417 crore and disbursed Rs 3,826.3522 crore to parties in FY 2024-25. Of 20 registered trusts, 15 filed with the ECI, 10 declared receiving donations, five reported nil, and reports of five others were not on the ECI site three months after the October 31, 2025 deadline. Some 228 corporate or business houses gave Rs 3,636.819 crore and 99 individuals gave Rs 187.6227 crore (96 of them to Prudent Electoral Trust). Prudent received Rs 2,668.4917 crore, Progressive Rs 915 crore and New Democratic Rs 160 crore. Source: ADR, electoral trusts route
The BJP received Rs 3,157.6549 crore, 82.52 percent of what trusts disbursed, and the INC Rs 298.7795 crore (7.81 percent). The top donors in the report were Elevated Avenue Realty LLP (Rs 500 crore), Tata Sons (Rs 308.1324 crore), TCS (Rs 217.6216 crore) and Megha Engineering (Rs 175 crore). The top ten gave Rs 1,908.8621 crore (49.89 percent). Source: ADR, electoral trusts route
The same year in other counts. Where sources differ on the trust totals and the BJP's share: The Indian Express (December 21, 2025) puts the total at Rs 3,811 crore from nine trusts, with the BJP at Rs 3,112 crore (82 percent) and Congress at Rs 299 crore. ADR (February 2026) puts it at Rs 3,826.35 crore with the BJP at Rs 3,157.65 crore. The Times of India (December 21, 2025, read in part) says "over Rs 3,577 crore" to the BJP. The three counts are printed as each source gave them. The Indian Express headline says trust donations "tripled" after the bonds were scrapped. Source: The Indian Express, trust donations tripled
ThePrint, on December 25, 2025, reported that trust donations "tripled to Rs 3,811 crore from Rs 1,218 crore the previous financial year". It said 19 trusts were registered and 13 had filed by December 2025, nine made substantial donations and four reported nil, and that nine active trusts moved 98 percent through just three vehicles. It put the BJP's total FY25 donations at Rs 6,654 crore (including trusts) against Congress's Rs 539 crore. It said bonds had "captured 90 percent of corporate funding pre-2024"; that is ThePrint's assertion,. On what trusts do and do not show, ThePrint wrote that they file with the ECI and tax authorities "all donor entities by name and all party recipients, yet the filings do not spell out how much each donor gave to each party", creating "anonymity-lite". Source: ThePrint, trusts FY25
The Times of India said that in 2023-24 the BJP's voluntary contributions were Rs 3,967 crore, of which Rs 1,686 crore came through bonds (which matches ADR's Rs 1,685.5261 crore for FY23-24) and Rs 856 crore through trusts. In 2024-25, it said, trusts disbursed "over Rs 3,577 crore" to the BJP: Prudent Rs 2,180.7 crore, Progressive Rs 757.6 crore, AB General Rs 460 crore, New Democratic Rs 150 crore, Harmony Rs 30.1 crore, Triumph Rs 21 crore, Jaybharath Rs 5 crore, Samaj Rs 3 crore, Jankalyan Rs 9.5 lakh and Einzigartig Rs 7.75 lakh. The Prudent and Progressive figures match ADR's (Rs 2,180.7119 crore and Rs 757.6205 crore). The items it lists add to about Rs 3,607 crore when added up, against its own Rs 3,577.5 crore figure, so ADR's figure is the one used here. Source: Times of India, trusts and BJP
The Prudent Electoral Trust jump in FY 2023-24. The Indian Express, on January 19, 2025, reported that Prudent received Rs 1,075.7 crore in FY 2023-24, up from Rs 363.16 crore the year before, and that Rs 797.1 crore of it came after the February 15, 2024 ruling, "nearly three-fourths". Its top contributors that year were ArcelorMittal Nippon (Rs 100 crore), DLF (Rs 99.5 crore), Maatha Projects (Rs 75 crore), Maruti Suzuki (Rs 60 crore) and CESC (Rs 60 crore). Prudent gave Rs 723.8 crore to the BJP, Rs 156.35 crore to the Congress, Rs 85 crore to the BRS and Rs 72.5 crore to the YSR Congress. Source: The Indian Express, Prudent Electoral Trust
The paper adds that Triumph Electoral Trust took Rs 132.5 crore, Rs 130 crore of it after February 15, up from Rs 0.5 crore the year before, with top contributors Cholamandalam Investment (Rs 50 crore), CG Power Industrial (Rs 30 crore) and Coromandel International (Rs 25.5 crore), and Rs 127.5 crore going to the BJP. Jayabharat Electoral Trust took Rs 9 crore (Lakshmi Machine Works Rs 8 crore and Super Sales India Rs 1 crore, both in September 2024) against nothing the year before, with the BJP receiving Rs 5 crore, the DMK Rs 3 crore and the AIADMK Rs 1 crore. It explains the transparency limit: Where a trust has one donor and one recipient the link is known, but with multiple donors and recipients "it cannot be specified which company is funding which party". Source: The Indian Express, Prudent Electoral Trust
Party income in FY 2024-25. The Hindustan Times reported on December 2, 2025 that the BJP had not yet submitted its report. Congress declared Rs 517.37 crore (from Rs 281.48 crore in 2023-24), TMC Rs 184.96 crore (from Rs 6.52 crore), AAP Rs 38.10 crore (from Rs 11.06 crore), TDP Rs 83.04 crore, YSRCP Rs 140 crore (from Rs 184 crore), BRS Rs 15.09 crore and BJD Rs 60 crore (of which Rs 25 crore from Vedanta Limited). Congress's Form 24A listed Prudent Rs 216.33 crore (from Rs 156 crore), Progressive Rs 77.34 crore, AB General Rs 15 crore, Democratic Rs 5 crore and Jankalyan Rs 9.5 lakh, "over Rs 313 crore" from trusts, plus corporate gifts from Hindustan Zinc (Vedanta Group) Rs 10 crore and ITC Rs 6 crore. TMC reported Rs 50 crore from Tiger Associates, Prudent Rs 92 crore and Progressive Rs 10 crore. Source: Hindustan Times, party funding FY25
Where sources differ: The Hindustan Times has Congress at Rs 517.37 crore on December 2 and says the BJP had not filed, while ThePrint's Rs 539 crore for Congress (December 25) is a later number from a different cut. Source: Hindustan Times, party funding FY25
The Wire on ReNew and the TDP. The Wire, on December 23, 2025 (read in part), argued that trusts "pretend to be transparent while hiding behind a wall". Its example was that ReNew group subsidiaries (seven, at one Delhi address) gave a combined Rs 2.99 crore (approximately) to the TDP, per the TDP's Form 24A for 2024-25, with donations on May 16 and 17, 2024, three days after Andhra Pradesh voted on May 13, 2024 and before results on June 4, 2024, and that ReNew signed memoranda of understanding for Rs 60,000 crore of green energy projects in Andhra Pradesh in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on a November 13. This is a news analysis that draws a timing inference, and it is presented here as The Wire's claim. Form 24A direct donations, not through a trust, are named by donor, which is different from the trust route. Source: The Wire, electoral trusts
The link to Justice Khanna's reasoning. Justice Khanna held that the trust route, with the ECI's 2014 disclosure guidelines, is the less restrictive alternative. ADR's point is that compliance gaps remain, as five trusts' reports were not on the ECI site. Whether trusts meet the disclosure Justice Khanna assumed is an open question that these sources do not settle. Source: ADR, electoral trusts route
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