-Economic and Political Weekly The introduction of Electoral Bonds is a retrograde measure that radically alters the transparency regime of electoral funding. By obscuring the identities of a bond’s purchaser and recipient from everyone but the State Bank of India, they give an unfair advantage to the party in power at the centre, undermine the Election Commission’s oversight role, and deprive the voters of their right to determine if the ruling...
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Jagdeep S Chhokar, one of the founders and trustees of Association for Democratic Reforms, interviewed by Ajaz Ashraf (CaravanMagazine.in)
-CaravanMagazine.in India is often hailed for its democracy, for empowering its poor and ordinary citizens to participate in the electoral process and play a role in shaping the country. This narrative has increasingly come under strain since the Supreme Court, through its March 2003 judgment in Union of India vs Association for Democratic Reforms, made it mandatory for candidates contesting elections to disclose their wealth, educational qualification, and criminal cases pending...
More »SBI sold Electoral Bonds worth Rs 3,622 crore in March and April: RTI
-PTI NEW DELHI: The State Bank of India has sold Electoral Bonds worth over Rs 3,622 crore in March and April this year, an RTI response has said. In a response provided to Pune-based Vihar Durve, the SBI said Electoral Bonds of Rs 1,365.69 crore were sold in March, which shot up by 65.21 per cent in April to Rs 2,256.37 crore. In April, most Electoral Bonds were sold in Mumbai at Rs...
More »Voters needn't know source of political funding: govt.
-The Hindu Voters need not know the funding source of parties, A-G tells court New Delhi: Voters do not need to know from where political parties get their funds, the government argued in the Supreme Court on Thursday. The court cannot “kill” the Electoral Bonds scheme for the sake of transparency, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said. He argued that the bond was an experiment to eradicate black money and the court should not...
More »Bonds of secrecy -PDT Achary
-The Indian Express Concealing the identity of donors in Electoral Bonds goes against a fundamental tenet of democracy — transparency Electoral Bonds are attracting attention in the run-up to the general elections. These bonds were conceived in 2017 and the necessary legislative changes were made in the Finance Bill of 2017. For example, Section 31 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1924, was amended and a new Clause (3) was...
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