Supreme Court issues notice to Centre over foreign political donations

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre on a plea alleging that the recent amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 have opened the doors to unlimited political donations from foreign firms.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on the plea filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms and others and tagged it with other similar pending petitions. 

The top court was hearing the PIL of the association which challenged that the amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 through the Finance Act, 2016 and the Finance Act, 2018. “The said amendments have opened doors to unlimited political donations from foreign companies and thereby legitimising financial contributions received from foreign sources,” the plea, filed through advocates Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva, read.