Supreme Court Strikes Down Modi Government’s Electoral Bonds Scheme Ahead of Lok Sabha Polls
Published Date – 16 February 2024, 09:50 AM
New Delhi: Asaduddin Owaisi, the President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) has hailed the Supreme Court’s decision striking down the electoral bonds scheme, terming it “unconstitutional” saying that the verdict by the apex court reveals ‘what is wrong’ with the ruling government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In a historic verdict barely weeks before the Lok Sabha polls are set to be notified, the Supreme Court struck down Thursday the Narendra Modi government’s 2018 electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding.
In a post on X, the AIMIM chief, however, said that the judgement by the Supreme Court over the Electoral Bonds Scheme was ‘late’ and should have come earlier.
“I welcome the SC judgement. The SC has not only held the bonds to be unconstitutional but also the amendment that permitted unlimited corporate funding. If these are unconstitutional and if they violate Article 19(1)(a), then what should we say about the legitimacy of elections since 2017? Are they not a big question mark on the legitimacy and transparency of elections since 2017? According to the election watchdog’s report, the total donations declared by the national parties for 2022-23 was Rs 850.438 crore of which Rs 719.858 crore went to the BJP alone,” he said.
In a jibe at the BJP, Owaisi said that there is a clear ‘appeasement’ done by the ruling party for one minority – a “handful of corporates” against what Prime Minister ‘lectures’ and the “last ten years are proof of that.”
“The SC judgement is also too late. It should have come sooner. But effectively, it tells us what is wrong with the ruling govt. Modi says “development for all, appeasement for none” but there is clear appeasement of one minority, and that is the handful of corporates that have disproportionately funded the BJP. BJP alone received the majority of funds under the electoral bonds scheme (6500 crore out of 12k crore),” he said.
He further said that he has always been opposing all corporate funding to political parties in my representation to the standing committee on elections in 2017.
“If unnamed corporations and businesses can fund political parties, then why will political parties woo the people? The policy will be set by businesses and corporations, not by people. Last ten years is proof of corporate appeasement,” Owaisi added.
Highlighting that “the information about funding to a political party is essential for a voter to exercise their freedom to vote effectively,” a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, said that changes made in the laws to implement the scheme were unconstitutional.
Holding the scheme “violative” of the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression and right to information, the court did not agree with the Centre’s contention that it was meant to bring about transparency and curb black money in political funding.
