SC ruling razes government stance on electoral bonds: CPI-M

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Friday hailed the interim order of the Supreme Court on the electoral bond scheme, saying the court has "clearly stated (that) transparency is the basic principle of electoral funding".

A CPI-M statement said it noted "positively the interim order passed by the Supreme Court on the electoral bond scheme initiated by the Modi government".

It said the changes in the law which was rushed without a proper and comprehensive discussion in Parliament was aimed at removing the limits of corporate funding of political parties, particularly at the time of elections, while making it completely anonymous.

"The changes would have made the entire system prone to crony capitalism with a clear basis for quid pro quo with the ruling party," it added.

The government was opposed to making the funding transparent. The Attorney General told the Supreme Court: "It is not voters' concern to know where the money comes from. Transparency cannot be looked as a mantra of the country."

The CPI-M statement said: "Today's interim judgment has brought in some degree of accountability by making it mandatory for the political parties to place their collection from electoral bonds and the details thereof to the Election Commission by May 30.

"The interim order promised that the seriousness of the issue and its bearing on the very nature of our democracy warrants more in-depth examination.

"The court has clearly stated that transparency is the basic principle of electoral funding. People have the right to know which party has received how much and from whom."

The CPI-M said it was happy that the legal battle, in which it itself is a petitioner, "has yielded some positive result as of now" to make electoral funding completely transparent and free of corporate influence towards breaking the corporate-ruling party nexus.

--IANS

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