Policy Watch: How anonymous election funding changed last week
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Since the government passed legislation introducing electoral bonds as a means to fund political parties in 2018, bonds of Rs 15,956.3096 crore (£1.5 billion) have been sold, according to a Right to Information (RTI) query.
The Supreme Court struck down the scheme last week, calling it unconstitutional.
Scroll down for more on the Judgement.
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Policy Watch: How anonymous election funding changed last week
Electoral bonds were launched by PM Modi’s overnment in 2018 to make political funding more transparent. But critics say it's done the opposite and made the process more opaque.
On Thursday, a five-judge constitution bench ruled that electoral bonds violate citizens' right to access information held by the government.
The government had defended the policy, saying it was introduced with the aim of eliminating cash donations to political parties as much of India's elections are funded through private donations.
Critics say that the bonds are not really anonymous - you can only buy the bonds at specific branches of a state-owned bank, which means the government can see who has bought what, for which political party.
Read the full Supreme Court Judgement here.
Here are some of the key aspects of the ruling:
In a separate but concurring judgment, Justice Sanjiv Khanna said 94% of the contributions came from electoral bonds of Rs 1 crore (c.£100k) denomination, which indicated the quantum of corporate donations.
The ruling party in the Centre and State generally benefitted from the most donations:
Justice Khanna said:
"The voters right to know and access to information is far too important in a democratic set-up so as to curtail and deny 'essential' information on the pretext of privacy and the desire to check the flow of unaccounted for money to the political parties. While secret ballots are integral to fostering free and fair elections, transparency—not secrecy—in funding of political parties is a prerequisite for free and fair elections. The confidentiality of the voting booth does not extend to the anonymity in contributions to political parties.”
The Supreme Court said that the issuing state bank must immediately stop the issurance of electoral bonds, and submit details of bonds purchased since an interim order of the Court from April 2019, to the Election Commission of India. The ECI has to publish this information on its website by 13 March.
The Judgement said:
“The RBI had objected to the Scheme since the Bonds could change hands after they have been issued. There is no check for the same as the purchaser who has completed the KYC, whose identity is thereupon completely concealed, may not be the actual contributor/ donor. In fact, the Scheme may enable the actual contributor/donor to not leave any traceability or money trail … Money laundering can be undertaken in diverse ways. Political contributions for a quid pro quo may amount to money laundering, as defined under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.”Validity of Section 154 of the Finance Act amending Section 182(3) to the Companies Act: Before the 2017 amendment, companies needed to disclose the details of the amount contributed to, and name of, a political party. After the amendment, only the total amount in a financial year needs to be disclosed. This was ruled unconstitutional.
Likewise, the court ruled Section 182(1) to the Companies Act of 2013 must be deleted. Related part of the Income Tax Act 1981, as amended by the Finance Act 2017 are also struck down.
Sources: LiveLaw, Supreme Court Judgement.
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