India top court scraps opaque election funding system, calls it 'unconstitutional'

Illuminated Supreme Court building is pictured from the International Media Center during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, September 9, 2023. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's Supreme Court on Thursday scrapped a seven-year-old election funding system that allows individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits, calling it "unconstitutional".

The decision is seen as a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been the largest beneficiary of the system it introduced in 2017.