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Electoral Bonds

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December 30, 2020

Why in news?

Central Information Commission (CIC) has upheld the State Bank of India order of not disclosing any information about electoral bonds.

What is electoral bond scheme?

  • It is a promissory note which can be bought by any Indian citizen or company incorporated in India from selected branches of SBI.
  • They can purchase the bond digitally or through cheque & it is free of interest.
  • The citizen or corporate can then donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice.

What is the issue with the scheme?

  • It hides the identity of the donors, recipient, the amount of donation thereby creating unholy nexus between corporates & political parties.
  • This goes against best practices of electoral democracy & promotes arbitrariness.
  • It is also in contravention with the individual’s freedom of speech and expression.
  • In PUCL vs Union of India case, Supreme Court held that the voter’s freedom of speech & expression includes right to secure information about expenses of the party & the candidate.
  • Despite this court order, SBI refused to reveal information about the details of donor, amount of donation in the electoral bond.

Why did SBI refuse to disclose the information?

  • It has relied on Section 8 of the RTI Act which exempts disclosing the information.
  • It says that information cannot be disclosed when it is held under fiduciary capacity & when no public interest involved.
  • But SBI has interpreted in a very narrow sense.
  • Section 8(2) directs that when public interest outweighs any harm to protected interests then the information can be accessed.
  • This order of SBI is upheld by CIC which is in contrast with its previous order.

What was CIC’s previous order?

  • In its earlier order CIC said that political parties are deemed to be public authorities under the RTI Act.
  • The funds received by the political parties are necessary for the voters to understand the financing & functioning of parties.
  • The shareholders of the company will also be interested to know about the donations by corporate entities.
  • Therefore, the failure of the CIC in appreciating the present issue defeats the objective of the RTI Act.

What will happen now?

  • A batch of petitions filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are under subjudice.
  • Therefore, the CIC’s decision, if carried to the Supreme Court on appeal, will be heard together.

What can be done now?

  • Transparency and accountability must be established in the election process.
  • For this there must be public scrutiny of parties & political candidates.
  • It is necessary to know the donation received by political parties & the manner their expenses.
  • This ensures there is free and fair democratic process.
  • This view is upheld by the Election Commission in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court.
  • Suppressing the knowledge about political financing breaks the basic bonds of democracy which holds the country together.

 

Source: The Hindu

 

 

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