INSIGHT

political parties. While civil society or-

Electoral Bonds ganisations have resorted to public inter-
est litigation (PIL) to bring about some
The Illusion of Transparency measure of transparency in the obscure
domain of political funding, the establish-
ment has done its best to thwart their
Kamal Kant Jaswal efforts on one pretext or the other. It has
also fashioned ingenious devices to ensure

T
The introduction of electoral he electoral bond is a strange beast. that the identity of corporate donors
bonds is a retrograde measure It is a bond that carries no interest, remains beyond the pale of public scrutiny.
but is comparable to a junk bond.
that radically alters the Electoral Transparency
It combines the promise of high returns
transparency regime of electoral to the investor in the immediate term In this context, it will be pertinent to
funding. By obscuring the with high risk, but the risk inherent in recall some of the significant outcomes
identities of a bond’s purchaser this instrument is borne by the society. in civil society’s protracted campaign for
The challenge to the constitutionality greater transparency in various aspects
and recipient from everyone but
of electoral bonds is close to determina- of the electoral process. The campaign is
the State Bank of India, they give tion. In all fairness, it ought to have been premised on the primacy of the citizen’s
an unfair advantage to the party decided well before the start of the democratic right to know, which forms
in power at the centre, undermine current general elections. The challenge an integral part of the fundamental right
is a part of a larger civil society struggle to freedom of speech and expression
the Election Commission’s
for delineation of the voter’s right to be under Article 19(1)(a).
oversight role, and deprive the informed in its plenitude. In a catena of judgments, the apex
voters of their right to determine This struggle has been waged in multi- court has held that a well-informed citi-
if the ruling party is extending ple arenas. The engagements have been zenry is crucial to the functioning of a
numerous, culminating in many notable democratic polity. In consequence, the
undue favours to its donors.
victories and some heart-breaking defeats. political establishment has been forced
The core issue in the ongoing legal battle is to comply with the prescribed norms of
that of transparency of electoral funding. disclosure on various aspects of the
If the political parties could have their electoral process. The enactment of the
way, the sources and applications of their Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI) has
funds would forever remain hidden from further empowered the citizen in their
the public gaze. The sums needed to quest for information which is essential
finance their processes and operations to the exercise of their franchise.
have now reached astronomical propor- In Common Cause v Union of India and
tions. The New Delhi-based think tank, Others (1996), the Supreme Court denou-
Centre for Media Studies, estimates that nced the lack of accountability of the po-
the expenditure during the current gen- litical parties and the naked display of
eral elections will be an unprecedented money power in the elections in strident
`50,000 crore, a 40% jump from the 2014 terms. The Court held that under Article
polls (Chaudhary and Rodrigues 2019). 324, the Election Commission can issue
The bulk of the funds raised by the suitable directions to maintain the purity
political parties come from donors who of the election and, in particular, to
have good reasons to avoid any public bring transparency in the process of the
scrutiny of their munificence. The politi- election. To quote,
cal establishment, on its part, abhors the Superintendence and control over the con-
prospect of an uncomfortable examina- duct of election by the Election Commission
tion of the linkages between their gov- include the scrutiny of all expenses incurred
by a political party, a candidate or any other
ernments’ policies and decisions, and association or body of persons or by any in-
the interests of their major donors. dividual in the course of the election. The ex-
Kamal Kant Jaswal (kamaljaswalcc@gmail. Historically, civil society and the pression “Conduct of election” is wide
com), former secretary to the Government of enough to include in its sweep, the power to
political establishment have adopted
India, is president of Common Cause, issue directions—in the process of the con-
diametrically opposite positions on the duct of an election—to the effect that the
New Delhi.
issue of transparency in the funding of political parties shall submit to the Election

32 MAY 25, 2019 vol lIV no 21 EPW Economic & Political Weekly
 INSIGHT
Commission, for its scrutiny, the details of to income tax authorities were inherently who seem to be supporting the institu-
the expenditure incurred or authorized by barred from disclosure, the commission tions of democracy without favouring
the parties in connection with the election of ruled that Section 138(1)(b) of the Income any particular political party.
their respective candidates (Common Cause
Tax Act, 1961 empowers the commis- Between 1 April 2013, and 31 March 2016,
v Union of India and Others 1996).
sioner of income tax to disclose in public donations from seven electoral trusts
Pursuant to this decision, the Election interest any information which comes amounted to more than `442 crore—about
Commission prescribed the proformas into the hands of the public authority. one-third of all the funding disclosed by po-
of statements of income and expendi- As a logical corollary to this decision, litical parties in that time period. (Stevens
and Sethi 2017)
ture and returns of donations exceeding the commission held in 2013 that the six
the prescribed limit, to be filed by the national parties, in respect of which Most of the contributors to electoral
political parties. The information thus information had been sought under the trusts operate in highly regulated sectors
collected has been displayed on the RTI, were within its purview.5 The com- where the ruling party can recompense the
commission’s website. mission reaffirmed this ruling in 2015.6 donors by altering the regulatory frame-
The campaign for securing the voter’s Although uncontested, this decision has work to their advantage. Predictably, the
right to know the antecedents of the con- been ignored by the political parties, which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has cap-
testing candidates was quite eventful. have refused to entertain the RTI appli- tured most of the fund flows. During
The Association for Democratic Reforms cations addressed to them (Deshmukh 2017–18, its share amounted to 86% (Jain
(ADR) filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court 2015). The United Progressive Alliance 2018). The appeal of electoral trusts has
for determination of the elector’s funda- (UPA) government considered amending considerably diminished with the intro-
mental right to receive information re- the RTI Act to exclude the political parties duction of electoral bonds which pro-
garding the candidates’ criminal activities from its ambit,7 but had to drop the move vide greater anonymity to the donors.
and to know the facts having a bearing in the face of public opprobrium.
on their suitability for being elected. The A PIL for declaration of the national Relabelling of Foreign Money
court held that it was incumbent on the political parties as public authorities un- India has rightly been wary of foreign
Election Commission to provide the voters der the RTI Act has been languishing in influence in its democratic processes.
with information pertaining to a candi- the Supreme Court since June 2015 (As- Section 29B of the RPA bars political par-
date’s criminal background, assets pos- sociation for Democratic Reforms and ties from accepting contributions from
sessed by his family and his educational Anr v Union of India and Ors 2015). any foreign source as defined in the For-
qualification (Association for Democratic The Union of India has strongly eign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010
Reforms v Union of India and Anr 2001). opposed the petition. To quote from its (FCRA). Companies incorporated outside
The Supreme Court upheld the decision counter-affidavit dated 21 August 2015: India and their Indian subsidiaries came
in appeal, making the directions to the If the political parties are held to be public au- within the mischief of the 1976 act.
Election Commission more specific thorities under the RTI Act, it would hamper Despite this prohibition, both the In-
(Union of India v Association for Democratic their smooth internal work ing. Further, it is dian National Congress (INC) and the
apprehended that political rivals might file
Reforms and Anr 2002). Aggrieved by BJP received donations from two Indian
RTI applications with malicious intentions to
some of the directions, the government the CPIOs of the political parties, thereby ad- subsidiaries of the United Kingdom-based
brought in an ordinance on electoral re- versely affecting their political functioning Vedanta Resources between 2004 and
form.1 It was subsequently replaced by a (p 7, para 10). 2012. The Delhi High Court, adjudicat-
bill, which inserted Section 33B in the ing the matter in a PIL filed by ADR, held
Representation of the People Act (RPA) to Electoral Trusts that the contributions in question were
overturn the Supreme Court judgment in Successive governments have devised from foreign sources, irrespective of the
respect to disclosure of a candidate’s edu- innovative measures to shield the corpo- fact that an Indian national held a majo-
cational background and financial status.2 rate donors of political parties from rity of the shares of Vedanta Resources
This amendment was challenged in a exposure. The UPA government intro- (Association for Democratic Reforms and
bunch of writ petitions filed by People’s duced the scheme of electoral trusts to Anr v Union of India and Ors 2014).
Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and others. create a smokescreen between corporate The high court ordered a scrutiny of
The Court struck down the bill as uncon- donations and their intended beneficiar- the receipts of all political parties to
stitutional and restored its earlier order. ies.8 Registered as not-for-profit compa- identify the contributions received in
Post the enactment of the RTI,3 the nies under Section 25 of the Companies violation of the statutory provisions and
Central Information Commission’s order in Act, these trusts are authorised to re- demanded prompt consequential action
Ms Anumeha, c/o Association for Demo- ceive contributions from companies and under the law. This decision, coming
cratic Reforms v Chief Commissioner of route them to the political parties, with- weeks before the 2014 general elections,
Income Tax-XI, New Delhi 2008, made the out having to link specific contributions rendered the two main political parties
income tax returns filed by political par- to the disbursements made to the politi- liable to disqualification.
ties accessible to the public.4 Rejecting cal parties. This creates the illusion of an The new National Democratic Alliance
the contention that the returns furnished arm’s length transaction by the donors, government opted to nullify the court’s
Economic & Political Weekly EPW MAY 25, 2019 vol lIV no 21 33
INSIGHT

judgment by redefining foreign source Section 29C of the RPA has been This admission falls short of the objec-
through the Finance Act, 2016. A new amended to exclude the contributions tive of transparency set forth in the
proviso under Section 2 of FCRA, 2010 received through electoral bonds from Finance Act. While the electoral bond
stipulated that a company with less than the report of contributions exceeding route enables a corporate entity to make
50% foreign-held equity would cease to `20,000 made to the Election Commis- a legitimate political contribution with-
be a foreign source (The Gazette of India sion (Chapter VI, Part IV, Section 136). out attracting public attention, it causes
Extraordinary 2017). In order to discourage cash transac- a great detriment by denying the public
This amendment to a law falling in tions and to bring transparency in the at large an opportunity of assessing
the Home Ministry’s domain was made source of funding to political parties, Sec- whether a political party in power has
through a money bill ostensibly to enable tion 13A, Income Tax Act has been amend- shown undue favours to its donors.
the Indian subsidiaries of foreign compa- ed to provide that donations to political Moreover, creative accountants can
nies to discharge their social responsibili- parties exceeding `2,000 must be made neutralise the impact of a lowered ceiling
ty. It was not explained why it was given through cheque, demand draft, electronic for cash contributions by multiplying the
with retrospective effect from 2010. transfer, or electoral bond (Chapter III, number of unattributed cash donations by
The national parties involved, oblivious Section 11). The earlier limit for cash do- a factor of 10. The new instrument does
of the fact that they were still liable in re- nations was `20,000. Donations by way of not inhibit the generation of illicit funds, or
spect of the donations from Indian sub- electoral bonds have been exempted from their employment in election campaigns.
sidiaries of foreign companies prior to the disclosure in the annual returns, which The amendment to the Companies Act
promulgation of FCRA, 2010, withdrew must be filed by the political party to has enabled the companies regardless of
their Special Leave Petitions against the obtain the benefit of tax exemption. their financial health, to buy favours by
high court verdict.9 Once again, an oblig- This exemption aims to address the con- making unlimited political donations.
ing government came to the rescue of the cern of anonymity of the donors. The creation of shell companies to channel
concerned parties. The Finance Act, 2018 Section 182 of the Companies Act has corporate contributions to political parties
gave retrospective effect to the revised been amended to remove the cap on po- has been facilitated. The shareholders are
definition of foreign source from the date litical contributions of 7.5% of three kept in dark about the details of donations
of promulgation of the repealed FCRA, years’ average net profits. Only the ag- made by the company management.
1976, by amending the relevant provision gregate of the contributions to different The amendment to the RPA has imped-
of the Finance Act, 2016 (The Gazette of political parties needs to be disclosed in ed the discharge of the Election Com-
India Extraordinary 2018). the company’s profit and loss account mission’s constitutional mandate to con-
The amendments to FCRA, 2010 and (Chapter VI, Part XII, Section 154). duct free and fair elections. Nasim Zaidi,
the repealed act of 1976 have been chal- the then chief election commissioner,
lenged in the Supreme Court (Association Electoral Bonds advised the government against the move,
for Democratic Reforms and Anr v Union Justifying the introduction of electoral asserting that it would vitiate transpar-
of India 2018). The petition underlines bonds, the finance minister candidly stated: ency (Mohanty 2017). It is reported that
the danger of exposing the nation’s polity [The] electoral bond scheme, which I placed the central government had omitted to
to a deluge of foreign funds and influ- before the Parliament a few days ago, consult the commission before altering
envisages total clean money and substan-
ence. After issuing notice to the respond- the reporting requirement laid down in
tial transparency coming into the system
ents, the Supreme Court has tagged the of political funding. A donor can purchase the RPA (Raman and Pandey 2017).
petition with other PILs in which related electoral bonds from a specified bank only The introduction of electoral bonds
issues have been agitated. by a banking instrument. He would have to has attracted strong criticism from ex-
disclose in his accounts the amount of politi- perts in the domain. Some of Zaidi’s pre-
cal bonds that he has purchased. The life of
Overhaul of Transparency Regime decessors and successors in office have
the bond would be only 15 days. A bond can
The Finance Act, 2017 has radically altered only be encashed in a pre-declared account described it as a retrograde measure that
the transparency regime applicable to of a political party. Every political party in has legalised crony capitalism (Rashid
the political parties to pave the way for its returns will have to disclose the amount 2019; Vishnoi 2018).
of donations it has received through elec-
the introduction of electoral bonds (The toral bonds to the Election Commission. As apprehended, the introduction of
Gazette of India Extraordinary 2017). The entire transactions would be through electoral bonds has led to a spurt in corpo-
The following statutory provisions have banking instruments. As against a total non- rate funding of political parties. The sales
been amended through the device of a transparency in the present system of cash in the first tranche of March 2018 totalled
donations where the donor, the donee, the
money bill to circumvent the requirement `222 crore, of which the BJP got `210 crore
quantum of donations and the nature of
of Rajya Sabha’s approval. expenditure are all undisclosed, some ele- and the INC `5 crore. During 2018–19,
Section 31 of the Reserve Bank of ment of transparency would be introduced electoral bonds worth `834.7 crore were
India Act has been amended to empower in as much as all donors declare in their ac- sold in five tranches until November 2018
counts the amount of bonds that they have
the central government to authorise any purchased and all parties declare the quan-
(Chopra 2019). The next two tranches of
scheduled bank to issue electoral bonds tum of bonds that they have received. (Press January and March 2019 registered sales
(Chapter VI, Part III, Section 134). Information Bureau 2018) of `1,716 crore (Business Standard 2019).
34 MAY 25, 2019 vol lIV no 21 EPW Economic & Political Weekly
 INSIGHT

A further acceleration in sales is reconsideration of the amendments vide The interim order passed by the
expected during the ongoing elections de- its letter dated 26 May 2017 to Ministry of Supreme Court notes that the rival conten-
spite a five-day reduction in the window Law and Justice. The commission had stat- tions give rise to weighty issues that have a
for May ordered by the Supreme Court.10 ed that the amendments would seriously tremendous bearing on the sanctity of the
The corporate sector should again account impact the transparency of political electoral process.13 These issues require
for most of the sales with the lion’s share finance. Further, the omission of contribu- an in-depth hearing and cannot be
going to the parties expected to provide tions received through electoral bonds from answered within the limited time avail-
attractive returns on investment. the contribution reports of the political able before the process of funding
The ruling party at the centre has the parties would make it impossible to verify through the electoral bonds comes to a
added advantage of access to particulars the compliance of the prohibition against closure. Hence, it has to be ensured that
of the purchasers of electoral bonds which acceptance of contributions from govern- any interim arrangement that is made
are sold through the State Bank of India ment companies and foreign sources. does not tilt the balance in favour of
(SBI) exclusively. Investigation by the Quint The commission had warned that the either of the parties, while their com-
has revealed that the bonds carry a unique amendments proposed to the Companies peting claims are adjudicated.
alphanumeric code that becomes visible in Act would “open up the possibility of The fact is that a petition raising such
ultraviolet light (Agarwal 2019). The im- shell companies being set up for the sole weighty issues could only be heard 18
plications of this secret feature are obvious. purpose of making donations to political months after it was filed. Moreover, the
parties, with no other business of conse- Court could have stayed the operation of
Legality of Electoral Bonds quence having disbursable profits.” the impugned scheme to determine the
The Supreme Court has belatedly taken Referring to the changes made in issue of its constitutionality. The process
up for consideration a PIL filed by ADR FCRA of 2010 through the Finance Act, of funding through this scheme, which
and Common Cause [WP(C) 880/2017] to 2016, the commission had pointed out is in its eighth schedule, is not coming to
challenge the constitutionality of the am- that acceptance of donations from Indi- a close anytime soon.
endments made in the legal framework an subsidiaries of foreign companies The Court also directed all the recipi-
by the Finance Act of 2017. would result in unchecked foreign fund- ents of donations through electoral bonds
The petition posits that these amend- ing to political parties in India and could to submit to the Election Commission, in
ments infringe the citizen’s fundamental lead to Indian policies being influenced sealed cover, the details of the donor of
“Right to Know” under Article 19(1)(a), by foreign companies.11 each bond, its amount and full particular
and are not saved by any of the reason- The contention of the Union of India is of the credit received against it. The sealed
able restrictions under Article 19(2). The that the amendments in question, includ- covers received until 30 May 2019 will
vires of the amendment to FCRA 2010 ing the Electoral Bond Scheme, have been remain in custody of the commission
effected through the Finance Act, 2016 introduced to deal with the menace of un- until further orders.
have also been challenged. accounted money in political funding. It will be difficult for the political
The gravamen of the petition is that During the hearing which concluded on 12 parties to furnish this information, beca-
the impugned amendments jeopardise the April 2019, the attorney general contend- use in terms of the Electoral Bonds
country’s autonomy, militate against trans- ed that the implementation of the meas- Scheme, 2018, the particulars of the do-
parency, incentivise corrupt practices, ures would be tested by the results ob- nor are not to be disclosed. The electoral
and render the nexus between politics and tained in the course of the ongoing gener- bond is a bearer instrument, and the do-
big business more opaque. The instrument al elections and that the government must nor can have it delivered to the benefi-
of electoral bonds enables special interest be allowed a free hand to implement ciary party through courier or a messen-
groups, corporate lobbyists and foreign measures in execution of policies framed.12 ger. Even if a political party possesses
entities to secure a stranglehold on the The highlight of the attorney general’s information of the donor’s identity, it
electoral process and influence the coun- argument was his claim that the voter did may well withhold it. In fact, donor ano-
try’s governance to the detriment of the not have a fundamental right to know the nymity is the unique selling proposition
masses. By relieving the political parties source of political funding (Tripathi 2019). of electoral bonds.
of the duty to disclose the details of their This was reminiscent of Ashok Jaitley’s de- The sole repository of the particulars of
donors, the amendments have eroded the fence of Section 33B, RPA in PUCL. He had the purchasers of electoral bonds is the
Election Commission’s constitutional role contended that there was no specific fun- SBI, but in principle, it is unable to link a
and deprived the citizens of the country damental right of the voter to know the particular bond credited to the account of
of vital information concerning electoral antecedents of a candidate, and that dec- a political party to its purchaser. The bank
funding. Further, the recourse to a money laration by the Court of such a fundamen- claims not to maintain any record of the
bill for amending the laws relating to elec- tal right was derivative and liable to be secret alphanumeric numbers of the bonds
toral funding has subverted the legislative nullified by appropriate legislation. The that it sells (Agarwal 2019).
scheme envisaged in the Constitution. Supreme Court rightly rejected this ingen- In a hypothetical case where a donor
In its affidavit in response, the Election ious argument (People’s Union for Civil Lib- opts to reveal his identity to a political par-
Commission has referred to its advice for erties and Anr v Union of India 2003). ty and the party provides his particulars to
Economic & Political Weekly EPW MAY 25, 2019 vol lIV no 21 35
INSIGHT

the Election Commission, there is no rea- inner contradictions, is facing an unprec- Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr v Union
of India (2018): Supreme Court of India WP
son why this information should remain edented crisis of credibility. A resurgent (Civil) 434/2018.
hidden from the commission, which has executive has managed to increase its lev- Business Standard (2019): “Electoral Bonds Worth
Rs 1,716 Cr Sold in Jan,” 2 April, [Link]
routinely been publishing the details of po- erage with the judiciary in the last five [Link]/article/news-ians/ele-
litical contributions exceeding `20,000 on years. Yet, one may take heart from the ctoral-bonds-worth-rs-1-716-cr-sold-in-jan-mar-
ch-119040200703_1.html.
its website. The Court’s newly acquired apex court’s emphasis on the significance Chaudhary, Archana and Jeanette Rodrigues (2019):
preference for guarding all manner of in- of the issues agitated in the ADR–Common “Why India’s Election Is among the World’s
Most Expensive,” Economic Times, 12 March.
formation in sealed covers militates against Cause PIL and hope that it will maintain
Chopra, Shreya (2019): “`210 Crore for BJP, `5 Crore
the concept of adjudication in open court. the institution’s tradition of keeping in step for Congress: Electoral Bonds and the Contro-
with the needs of the time and pouring versy Around It,” 25 April, [Link]
[Link]/news/india/rs-210-crore-for-bjp-
The Struggle Ahead new content in the vessel of fundamental rs-5-crore-for-congress-what-are-electoral-bo-
The history of the tumultuous campaign rights, placing a comprehensive transpar- [Link].
Common Cause–A Registered Society v Union of India
for transparency in the processes imping- ency framework on a firm footing. & Ors (1996): JT, SC, 3, 706, SCALE, 3, 258.
ing on the exercise of the citizen’s right Common Cause–A Registered Society v Union of In-
notes dia & Ors (1996): JT, SC, 3, 706, p 15.
to vote tells us that the political estab- Deshmukh, Vinita (2015): “CIC Bows before ‘Stub-
1 The Representation of the People (Amendment)
lishment, which comprises political par- Ordinance, 2002 (No 4 OF 2002). born’ Political Parties,” Moneylife, 18 March,
ties of all hues and their governments, 2 The Representation of the People (Third Amend- [Link]
ment) Act, 2002 (Act No 72 of 2002). fore-stubborn-political-parties/[Link].
has an innate preference for opacity. It 3 The Right to Information Act (No 22 of 2005). Jain, Bharti (2018): “BJP Corners 86% of All Poll
can be trusted to come up with ingen- 4 Central Information Commission Order dated Trust Funds in 2017–18,” Times of India,
29 April 2008 in Appeal Nos CIC/AT/A/2007/ 6 November, [Link]
ious arrangements that obfuscate the 01029 CIC/AT/A/2007/01263 CIC/AT/A/2007/ com/india/bjp-corners-86-of-all-poll-trust-fu-
workings of the political machine in the 01264, CIC/AT/A/2007/01265 CIC/AT/A/2007/ nds-in-2017-18/articleshow/[Link].
01266 CIC/AT/A/2007/01267, CIC/AT/A/2007/ Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Depart-
name of enhancing transparency. 01268 CIC/AT/A/2007/01269 CIC/AT/A/2007 ment), Part II – Section 1, 31 March.
The prescriptions for bringing about /01270. Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Depart-
5 Central Information Commission Order dated ment): The Finance Act 2016 (No 28 of 2016),
an acceptable degree of clarity in the The Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part II–
3 June 2013 in File No CIC/SM/C/2011/001386
obscure domain of political funding are and File No. CIC/SM/C/2011/000838. Section 1, 14 May, Part XIII, Section 236.
well known. The political establishment 6 Central Information Commission Order dated Mohanty, R Nalini (2017): “Nasim Zaidi Pushes for
16 March 2015 in File No CIC/CC/C/2015/ Electoral Reforms: On His Way Out CEC Fires
will have to be compelled to institute the 000182. Shots at Govt over Transparency,” Firstpost,
requisite changes in the relevant laws 7 RTI Amendment Bill No 112 of 2013. 3 July, [Link]
nasim-zaidi-pushes-for-electoral-reforms-on-
and refrain from tinkering with the 8 Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013 vide Notification
his-way-out-cec-fires-shots-at-govt-over-trans-
No S.O.309(E) dated 31 January 2013.
transparency framework in future. [Link].
9 Supreme Court of India Order dated 29 Novem-
People’s Union for Civil Liberties & Anr v Union of
As in the past, civil society will have to ber 2016 in Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s).
India (2003): AIR, SC, 2363; (2003), SCR, 2, 1136.
18190/2014 & 32626/2014 (Arising out of im-
bear the brunt of the struggle to bring pugned order dated 28/03/2014 in WP(Civil) People’s Union for Civil Liberties & Anr v Union of
No 131/2013 of the High Court Of Delhi). India (2003): AIR, SC, 2363; AIR (2003) SC
about the desired changes in the transpar- 2363, Derivative Fundamental Right, p 25 of
10 Supreme Court’s Interim Order dated 12 April
ency regime. Experience has shown that 2019, p 15, para 15, [Link]
the Order.
Press Information Bureau (2018): “Why Electoral
the victories won after years of legal battles premecourt/2015/16902/16902_2015_Order_12-
Bonds are Necessary–Shri Arun Jaitley,”
[Link].
can be hollowed out of substance through 11 Supreme Court’s Interim Order dated 12 April
7 January.
legislative and administrative legerdemain. 2019, pp 9–12, paras 5–8, [Link] Raman, Anuradha and Devesh K Pandey (2017):
in/supremecourt/2015/16902/16902_2015_- “EC’s Biggest Challenge Is Parties’ Use of Tainted
One has to be on the lookout for such Order_12-[Link]. Money in Polls, Says Nasim Zaidi,” Hindu,
machinations. Acting in concert, civil soci- 5 July.
12 Supreme Court’s Interim Order dated 12 April
2019, pp 12–13, para 10, [Link] Rashid, Adil (2019): “Electoral Bonds Have Legal-
ety organisations can harness the potential in/supremecourt/2015/16902/16902_2015_ ised Crony Capitalism: Ex-Chief Election Com-
synergy of networks and alliances to fur- Order_12-[Link]. missioner S Y Quraishi,” Outlook, 7 April, htt-
ps://[Link]/website/story/
ther their common objective. To this end, 13 Supreme Court’s Interim Order dated 12 April
2019, pp 13–14, paras 11–12, [Link] india-news-electoral-bonds-have-legalised-
they will need to sensitise the public opin- [Link]/supremecourt/2015/16902/16902_2015_ crony-capitalism-ex-chief-election-commis-
Order_12-[Link]. sioner-sy-quraishi/328299.
ion, multiply the pressure points, intensify Stevens, Harry and Aman Sethi (2017): “Electoral
their engagement with the institutions of References
Trusts: How Some of India’s Biggest Companies
Route Money to Political Parties,” Hindustan
governance, and create an enduring con- Agarwal, Poonam (2019): “Secret Policing? The Times, 18 August.
stituency for reforms. The struggle should Quint Finds Hidden Numbers in Electoral The Gazette of India Extraordinary (2017): The
Bonds,” Quint, updated 12 April, [Link] Finance Act, 2017 (No 7 of 2017).
continue until the political leadership real- [Link]/news/politics/hidden-number-on- — (2018): Ministry of Law & Justice (Legislative
ises that it stands to gain electorally by ap- election-electoral-bond. Department): The Finance Act, 2018 (No. 13 of
propriating the cause of reforming the Association for Democratic Reforms v Union of 2018), Part II–Section 1, 29 March, Part XIX,
India & Anr (2001): AIR, Delhi, 126; 2000 SCC Section 220.
transparency regime of political funding. Online DEL 836. Tripathi, Ashish (2019): “Voters Have No Right to
In this struggle, civil society has a Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr v Union of Know Source of Political Fund,” Deccan Herald,
India & Ors (2014): High Court of Delhi WP 11 April.
natural ally in the judiciary, which has (Civil) 131/2014, SCC online DEL 1321; (2014) Union of India v Association for Democratic Reforms
played a decisive role in the progress made 209 DLT 607. & Anr (2002): SCC, 5, 294; AIR, SC, 2112.
Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr v Union of Vishnoi, Anubhuti (2018): “None of Our Concerns
in the direction of transparency so far. India & Ors (2015): Supreme Court of India WP Relating to Electoral Bonds Have Been Addres-
Unfortunately, the institution, riven by (Civil) 333/2015. sed: CEC Rawat,” Economic Times, 26 November.

36 MAY 25, 2019 vol lIV no 21 EPW Economic & Political Weekly