Electoral Bonds: Majority Of Political Parties Fail To Honour SC Deadline In Submitting Details to ECI [Read List]

As the controversy around Electoral Bonds continues to gather steam, the political parties have given a go-by to the Supreme Court's deadline for submitting details to electoral bonds including the particulars of the donors to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

An RTI response has revealed that nearly all 97 political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) have defaulted in submitting the details of Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission by May 30. Many parties submitted the details as late as in August.

The Supreme Court is hearing a plea challenging the validity of the Electoral Bond scheme and the questionable claims of transparency around political funding as names of donors/ identity of purchasers is not known.

On April 12, the apex court had directed all political parties to submit details of donations through electoral bonds to the ECI in a sealed cover by May 30.

Transparency activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired), whose earlier RTI plea's revealed that the Centre had dismissed the red flags raised by the Election Commission on Electoral Bond Scheme, sought to know how many parties have complied with the SC order.

The Election Commission of India's response to his RTI application revealed that of the seven National Parties, only four -- All India Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India and Nationalist Congress Party - honoured the deadline set by the apex court by submitting the details with the Commission by May 30.

The details submitted by the BJP were received in the ECI on July 6, Congress on June 18 and CPI(Marxist) on June 8.

The response further states that one state unit of a national party – Nationalist Congress Party West Bengal State – submitted the details by May 30.

Of the 19 state parties, only eight including the Shiv Sena, submitted the details in time.

Of the 68 Registered Unrecognised parties, only six honoured the SC's deadline.

On receiving the response, Batra says, "It is a shame that Political Parties do not care and comply with Orders of Honb'le Highest Court of the Land".

The Electoral Bond scheme was notified by the Centre on January 2, 2018.

An Electoral Bond is a promissory note which can be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India, singly or jointly to make donations to political parties. As per the scheme, the bond shall not carry the name of the buyer or the payee political party.

It is valid only for 15 days.

Only the duly registered political parties which have secured at least one per cent of the votes in the last general election or the Assembly polls, are eligible to receive these bonds.

The scheme has come under severe criticism for lack of transparency around the buyer of the bonds which goes against the claims of curbing the use of black money for political funding.

The Reserve Bank of India and the ECI had their doubts and objected to this scheme, though unsuccessfully, as per the RTI revelations.

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