On electoral bonds – On electoral bonds, Supreme Court must uphold Right to Information

Source: This post on electoral bonds has been created based on the article “On electoral bonds, Supreme Court must uphold Right to Information” published in The Indian Express on 4^th November 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 Indian Polity – Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.  

News: This article discusses the issues with the Electoral Bonds scheme in light of the ongoing proceedings in the Supreme Court regarding its validity. It also suggests reforms to tackle the issue of a lack of transparency in political funding.

A detailed article on the Electoral Bonds Scheme can be read here.

Recently, a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has taken up petitions challenging the electoral bonds scheme.

The proceedings focused on arguments pertaining to the voters’ right to information and the right to confidentiality of donors.

What is the citizen’s ‘Right to Know’?

The citizens’ right to know was established by the Supreme Court rulings in the People’s Union for Civil Liberties case, 2003 and in the Association for Democratic Reforms case, 2002.

The Court ruled that the right to know about public officials is derived from the right to freedom of expression.

The Court mandated the Election Commission to disclose information related to candidates running for office, to the public.

This information included information on their assets, criminal records, and educational background.

What is the stand of the government on the citizen’s ‘Right to Know’?

The Attorney General has told the Supreme Court, in the written submissions, that the “citizens’ right to know is subject to reasonable restrictions”.

The argument put forward by the Solicitor General is that citizens have no right to know the donors/recipients’ identities.

As per the author, this statement doesn’t suit the world’s largest democracy.

What should be the way forward?

1) Disclosing the identities of donors and recipients.

2) Eliminate private funding and introduce public funding for political parties. It’s a small investment for the preservation of democracy (estimated at around Rs. 10,000 crore every 5 years).

3) Establishing a National Election Fund to which all donors could contribute. The funds could be allocated to parties based on their electoral performance.

Question for practice:

Critically examine the Electoral Bonds scheme. What measures can be taken to ensure greater accountability and transparency in political funding?