oppn parties EC & Political Parties Must Sit Together To Find The Way Ahead

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court will appoint an observer for the mayoral poll in Chandigarh
  • Government makes it compulsory for plastic carry bag makers to put a QR or barcode with their details on such bags
  • GBS outbreak in Pune leaves 73 ill with 14 on ventilator. GBS is a rare but treatable autoimmune disease
  • Madhya Pradesh government banned sale and consumption of liquor at 19 religious sites including Ujjain and Chitrakoot
  • Odisha emerges at the top in the fiscal health report of states while Haryana is at the bottom
  • JSW Steel net profit takes a massive hit of 70% in Q3
  • Tatas buy 60% stake in Pegatron, the contractor making iPhone's in India
  • Stocks return to negative zone - Sensex sheds 329 points to 76190 and Nifty loses 113 points to 23092
  • Bumrah, Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal make the ICC Test team of the year even as no Indian found a place in the ODI squad
  • India take on England in the second T20 today at Chennai. They lead the 5-match series 1-0
  • Ravindra Jadeja excels in Ranji Trophy, takes 12 wickets in the match as Saurashtra beat Delhi by 10 wickets. All other Team India stars disappoint in the national tournament
  • Madhya Pradesh HC says collectors must not apply NSA "under political pressure and without application of mind"
  • Oxfam charged by CBI over violation of FCRA
  • Indian students in the US have started quitting part-time jobs (which are not legally allowed as per visa rules) over fears of deportation
  • Enforcement Directorate is reported to have frozen nearly Rs 500cr in the accounts of 8 payment gateways including Paytm, Razorpay and PayU
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EC & Political Parties Must Sit Together To Find The Way Ahead

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2024-02-16 06:47:30

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court declared the electoral bond scheme 'unconstitutional' as it ruled that the citizens' right to know was paramount and superseded donors' right to privacy. Saying that the scheme violated Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, the 5-judge bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, in a unanimous verdict (there were two concurring judgments with different reasoning but same conclusion) asked the government to stop the scheme immediately. It also asked the SBI to give all details of all bonds purchased from April 2019 to the Election Commission by March 6 which in turn was directed to publish the same on its website by March 13.

The apex court was not swayed by the government argument that the bonds were necessary to curb 'black' money in politics as they were purchased through banking channels. It said that there were better ways to do that instead of an instrument that lacked transparency. The bench also ruled that all amendments to Companies Act, the Income Tax Act and the Representation of Peoples Act to facilitate the operation of the electoral bond scheme stood quashed. It said that unlimited political funding by companies could be used to influence public policy and lead to quid pro quo.

There is no doubt that the electoral bonds lacked transparency. As the court said, the public had the right to know who was funding whom and if the donors got favours in return to make informed choices when they voted. The court also found the decision to remove the cap (7.5% of the average profit of last three years) on funding by companies and allowing loss-making companies to donate 'arbitrary'. As the details will now be available in public domain, it will be known how big donors gained (if they did) by making substantial contributions to political parties. As the biggest beneficiary, the BJPs actions will obviously come under the scanner but since the opposition rules in several states, the actions of the Congress and some regional parties will also be scrutinized.

But will the scrapping of the electoral bonds once again lead to secret cash donations and infusion of black money? Rs 16000cr worth of bonds were sold since inceptionfor an average of just above Rs 3000cr per year. There will not be a vacuum for such a huge amount, especially as the Lok Sabha elections are approaching. Although electoral trusts exist and are transparent, they are not the preferred mode of donation. This Supreme Court judgment should lead the Election Commission and the political parties to sit together and find out ways to clean up the political funding system. They should come up with a system that is clean, transparent and fair.