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The Central government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court donations made through Electoral Bonds, which allow for anonymous funding to political parties, are kept anonymous to protect the privacy and political affiliation of the citizens who make such donations to political parties.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in his written statement said that the Electoral Bond scheme aims to strike a balance between the necessity for transparency and the need to safeguard the confidentiality of donors. The submissions further stated that the use of unaccounted cash (black money) in driving the electoral process of the country remains a matter of serious concern for the nation. Periodically, the government started taking various steps in varying degrees to incentivise the use of clean money for being donated to political parties, it added. He said, "The electoral bond does not carry the name of the buyer or payee in order to protect the citizen's right to privacy to its own political affiliation and to choose to fund a political party of its own choice, without the fear of being targeted or suffering vindicative repercussion for owning such a choice. It is in furtherance of the State's positive obligation to safeguard the privacy of its citizens, which necessarily includes, the citizens' right to informational privacy, including the right to secure the political affiliation of its citizens." He further said that donors and political parties have specific disclosure requirements to ensure transparency and accountability, particularly in the event of legal investigations. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra questioned whether the Electoral Bonds scheme presents a disadvantage for opposition parties since ruling political parties may have ways to unearth confidential information about donors who contribute funds to opposition parties. The apex court raised several questions over whether such "selective confidentiality" of donor information could skew the political playing field. An Electoral Bond is an instrument in the nature of a promissory note or bearer bond which can be purchased by any individual, company, firm or association of persons provided the person or body is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. The bonds are issued specifically for the purpose of contributing funds to political parties. Various petitions are pending before the top court challenging amendments made to different statutes through Finance Act 2017 and Finance Act 2016 on the ground that they have opened doors to unlimited, unchecked funding of political parties. NGOs Association of Democratic Reforms and Common Cause have said that the Finance Bill, 2017, which paved the way for the introduction of the Electoral Bond scheme, was passed as a money bill even though it wasn't. (ANI)
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