IASbaba's Flagship Course: Integrated Learning Programme (ILP) - 2024 Read Details
Search 12th April, 2019 Spotlight here: http://www.newsonair.com/Main_Audio_Bulletins_Search.aspx
TOPIC: General studies 2
- Elections in India
- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
In News: SC orders all political parties to disclose to EC details of every donation they receive via electoral bonds till 15th May, 2019
What are Electoral Bonds?
Funding of political parties has always been under some kind of suspicion or controversy. Hence in 2017 budget, the government came out with electoral bonds for political donation.
Purpose: To curb the use of black money in elections.
Eligibility of the party to receive Electoral Bonds: Only political parties
The scheme’s salient features included
Why is it in question?
Flouts the right to freedom of expression contained in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution: In a democratic system that does not have publicly-funded elections (such as ours), it therefore becomes crucially important for the public to know who funds political parties, in order to critically evaluate whether that party’s policies are designed to actually serve the public good, or whether they are written to benefit its funders.
To break the matter down into its essentials: if a big, multinational corporation (A) donates a huge amount of money to a political party (B), and on coming to power, that political party rewrites the rules in relevant sectors (such as, for example, environmental regulations) benefiting that corporation, then that entire set of transactions must be open to public scrutiny. Secrecy in political funding ensures an asymmetry of information that goes to the root of the democratic process, and the fairness of elections.
KYC would work – No, as it will provide the donor’s name but not the source of money
Criticism on the judgement: The court’s own justification for its order seems to be that it is a weighty matter that requires detailed consideration. This, however, is self-serving: the challenge was filed more than a year ago, and the court had ample time to hear it in detail before the ongoing general elections, given its weightiness.
Conclusion:
During the Constituent Assembly debates, BR Ambedkar famously said that the Constitution must guarantee not only one man, one vote, but also, one man, one value. An electoral system that allows limitless, anonymous corporate donations to political parties skews the process irrevocably, and makes a mockery of one man, one value.
Must read: IASbaba’s MINDMAP on Electoral Bonds
Connecting the Dots: