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A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is hearing about the legality of Electoral Bonds. The bench is headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprises Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The matter relates to the Electoral Bonds scheme of 2018. It has been pandind in the Supreme Court almost from 2028, in spite of the petitionrs’ requests to expedite its hearing.
Supreme Court had decided on December 6 last year whether to refer the case of Electoral Bonds to a larger bench. The Court’s decision came while hearing a batch of petitions filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in 2017 and the Communist Party Of India (Marxists) a year later, among others. They challenged Amendments to the Finanace Act, 2017, the Reserve Bank of India Act, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 2010, the Companies Act, the Income Tax Act, and the Represeantion of the People Act that facilitated the Electoral Bonds scheame. Their argument was that it undermined the right to know as well as the Election Commission of India guidelines on the political funding. Prof. Jagdeep S. Choker. co-founder of the ADR was dissatisfied with the progrss of the case since 2018.
The Electoral Bonds scheme, notified first time by the Union Government on January 2, 2018 was considered as a clever step towards emaciating the opposition parties. Neither would it lead to greater transparency in the funding of political parties (as claimed by Finance Minister late Arun Jaitley) nor would it check the flow of black money into the electoral process. Even Election Commission had expressed apprehensions at the move. It had even written to Government expressing apprehension.
The objection to the scheme mainly was that it might lead to the use of black money in electoral politics. In his keynote address at a conference of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), then Election Commissioner O P Rawat observed that ‘the recent amendments in the election and income tax laws make it clear that any donation received by a political party through an Electoral Bond has been taken out of the ambit of reporting in the Contribution Report which political parties have to submit to the EC. Implications of this step can be retrograde as far as transparency is concerned. Furthermore, where contributions received through Electoral Bonds are not reported, a perusal of contribution reports will not make it clear whether the party in question has taken any donations in violation of Section 298 of the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits political parties from taking donations from Government companies and foreign sources.’
Only the State Bank of India (SBI) can issue the Electoral Bonds in the denominations of Rs 1000, Rs 10,000, Rs one lakh, Rs ten lakh and Rs one crore. A total of 53 branches of SBI have been authorised to sell the Bonds – one branch in the capitals of all the States and Union Territories – more than one branch in some States. An individual or body can purchase these Bonds from the designated branches after fulfilling the KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements. However, the Bonds will not carry the name of the purchaser.
The byer can donate these Bonds to a political party which is registered with the Election Commission and has received not less than one per cent of the votes in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly election. The party can encash the Bonds only by depositing these in its bank, registered with Election Commission, within 15 days after the issuance of the Bond. If not deposited within 15 days, the amount of the Bond will go to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
Election Commission had expressed the apprehension that abolition of relevant provisions of the Companies Act of removing a cap of 7.5 per cent of profit for political donations can lead to money laundering by setting up of shell companies for diverting funds for donations to political parties.
Yashodhara Raje Scindia, late Vijayaraje Schindia’s youngest daughter and Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Technical Education, Skill Development and Employment of Madhya Prdesh, is feeling disenchanted with politics. She has announced more than once that she won’t stay in electoral politics. Her name is not included by the BJP high command in the list of candidates announced for the assembly elections to be held next month.
In fact she has felt never at home in electoral politics which she entered in 1998. Two years later her mother died and she expected the same reverence from partymen as was bestoed upon her mother. She could not adjust to the political conditions prevalent in India. She once told her supporters that she found politics “debased and devoid of ethics” and was yet to decide if she should re-enter it.
Once she had sent her resignation from the post of Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh BJP to the then State unit chief Kailash Joshi and pushed off to Delhi. There she was reported to have met the Congress president Sonia Gandhi through Kamal Nath in a bid to join the Congress but her nephew Jyotiraditya Scindia, MP from Guna, was said to have conveyed to Ms Gandhi in no uncertain terms that only one Scindia would remain in the Congress.
Yashodhara Raje had migrated to the US after her marriage. Following break-up with her husband, she returned to India and was with her mother during her last days. She had joined the BJP expecting the honour due to the heir of Vijayaraje Scindia, though she lacked the drive and charisma of her mother. She could never mix with party men and always sat erect on her seat in the Assembly, with the party MLAs going to her to pay their obeisance. She never joined the party in its protests, hardly ever spoke and submitted occasionally questions only for written answers.
The ascendance of Uma Bharati in 2003 made the things more difficult for her. The party leaders in the Shivpuri-Guna-Gwalior region, who were earlier looking up to Ms Scindia, were attracted towards Ms Bharati who was not only a charismatic leader but also the party’s chief ministerial candidate. Though a Secretary in the State unit the daughter of Vijayaraje Scindia felt all the more isolated and humiliated.
A little later in 2003, when she went to Sivpuri,she was accorded a tumultuous welcome. In the night she attended the function held on the occasion of the Ganesh Visarjan. At the insistence of the gathering, she addressed them and said that she had entered politics with high hopes but was now feeling disappointed.
Following the death of her mother Vijayaraje Scindia, she said, she was feeling utterly lonely. The people of Shivpuri then empathised with her. She felt that she must do something for these people. She then entered into politics. If she remained in politics, it would be to serve the people but the conditions were not conducive for that, she added.
Why Modi is undefeatable!
Posted on: September 4, 2023
- In: Government | Politics | Society
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At 8-30 PM on January 18, 1977, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced over All India Radio – first in Hindi and then in English – that she had requested the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha and order elections, possibly in March. In her broadcast to the nation, she listed the gains of Emergency and said that the restrictions (imposed with the promulgation of Emergency on June 25, 1975) would be ‘relaxed’ to allow political parties to campaign. Two days later Minister of Information and Broadcasting V C Shukla announced the government’s decision not to enforce the censorship (on newspapers).
Though such a move by Indira Gandhi has been in the air for some time, the Opposition leaders were taken by surprise by the timing. Some of them were still in jails. They had launched an agitation against Indira Gandhi under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan. The agitation was intensified after the Allahabad High Court judgement in mid-June disqualifying Indira Gandhi. They were all put in jails with the announcement of Emergency.
On January 20, leaders of Congress (O), Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal (BLD) and Socialist Party (SP) took stock of the situation and agreed to contest the elections in the name of Janata Party. ‘The process of merger’, they decided, would continue ‘till after the elections’. It was a conglomeration of disparate parties, abhorrent of each other in normal times, but brought together by Indira Gandhi’s Emergency rule.
However, the people were not enthused to the extent the Opposition leaders were expecting. There were those who had seen the ‘gains’ of Emergency; some others were impressed by the leadership qualities of Indira Gandhi and favoured giving her another chance. A friend of mine, who was a fiery critic of Indira Gandhi and frequently brought me the banned literature during the Emergency, remarked that he had now nothing to say against Indira Gandhi and that he did not think the Opposition parties would be able to stay together even if they won the elections. Most important was the feeling of fear, generated among people by Indira/Sanjay Gandhi’s highhanded methods during the Emergency. Those who wanted to vote against Indira Gandhi’s Congress were apprehensive about being victimised if she came back to power. People did not discuss politics or elections in public places and talked to trusted friends only when no stranger was around.
Some change – though very minor, and that, too, among the educated class – was perceptible after January 28. Justice A N Ray had retired as Chief Justice of India on January 28 and M H Beg had succeeded him by superseding H R Khanna who was senior to Beg. In protest Justice Khanna had resigned. During the Emergency no judge would have taken such a risk. There was an impressive crowd at Ram Lila Grounds where Janata Party held its first election meeting on January 30. Chairman of Janata Party Morarji Desai presided, though the main attraction was Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Jagjivan Ram factor
Jagjivan Ram resigned from the cabinet and the Congress on February 2 and formed a new party called Congress For Democracy (CFD) along with Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and Nandini Satpathy. That changed the atmosphere dramatically as it conveyed the message to the people that Indira Gandhi’s Congress was now a sinking ship. Janata Party’s meetings started swelling in contrast to the crowds in Congress meetings. Indira Gandhi inaugurated her party’s election campaign at Ram Lila Grounds on February 5. Originally it was to be inaugurated by Sanjay Gandhi but Jagjivan Ram’s resignation had obviously pushed him into the background. The meeting was thinly attended. Even those present were not in a mood to listen to Congress leaders. Indira Gandhi had to cut short her speech abruptly as the people were leaving. The next day the same Ram Lila Grounds was overflowing with people come to listen to Jayaprakash Narayan and Jagjivan ram. The BBC, in its 9-30 PM Hindi bulletin called it ominous for Mrs Gandhi. The rest is history.
Narendra Modi today is in the position in which Indira Gandhi was in January 1977. The difference is that he is more powerful than Indira Gandhi then was, more unscrupulous, more devoid of ethics and morality, more ruthless in misusing police agencies against his critics and more megalomaniac. He has a knack for manipulating elections the way Indira Gandhi could never do – even by getting inserted in voters’ lists fake voters in large numbers. In 2014, he was elected from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of 3, 71,784 votes over his nearest rival Arvind Kejriwal of AAP. When a routine revision of the voters’ lists was held by Election Commission in November 2014, over 6.47 lakh fake voters were detected in the lists.
The Opposition parties, the main pillars of a democracy, are in a worse shape than in 1977. They are more apprehensive of each other’s moves than trying to work out an effective strategy to check Modi’s authoritarianism. They need a Jayaprakash Narayan to unite them for a common cause and a Jagjivan ram to push Modi to the defensive. Both appear a distant dream as of today.
America and India
Posted on: August 25, 2023
America
Reuter reports Donald Trump’s mug shot was released on Thursday evening after he was booked at an Atlanta jail on more than a dozen felony charges as part of a wide-ranging criminal case stemming from the former U.S. president’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia. Inmate no. P01135809.
India
Varanasi, one of the holiest of the cities, shot into limelight in the beginning of this year for reasons other than religious or spiritual. BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had announced his decision to contest for Lok Sabha from Varanasi constituency. That catapulted Varanasi into the most watched city, by politicians, by the media, by professionals, by common people and, most importantly, by Election Commission of India (ECI).
As was expected, Varanasi witnessed a high-pitched electoral battle. Modi was declared elected by a margin of 3,71,784 votes over his nearest rival Arvind Kejriwal of AAP. The Congress candidate came third followed by that of BSP. Modi’s party, with as well as without its electoral allies, won a majority of the seats in Lok Sabha. Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26.
As a routine revision of the voters’ lists was held this month, it came out that 3,11,057 fake voters had cast their votes in the May Lok Sabha polling in Varanasi. This figure had come out at the initial stage itself. The district administration expected the number of fake voters to go up to 6,47,085 by the time the revision of the entire constituency was completed. This is quite a mind boggling figure. Even three lakh fake voters in a single high-profile constituency is exceptionable.
Election Commission had of late been trying hard to gain greater credibility. But the Sampath-Brahma-Zaidi trio has reversed the process. A question mark now hangs over its credibility after the discovery of lakhs of fake voters in Prime Minister Modi’s constituency. Forgery of such a gigantic magnitude could not have been possible without the complicity of the Election Commission machinery. One should be excused for presuming that only the touts and pimps were assigned the duty as observers and micro-observers in Varanasi.
The people’s faith in the integrity of the Election Commission of India has been badly shaken, though it is difficult to say at this stage in which form it will manifest.
Thoughts At Random
Posted on: August 14, 2023
- In: Government | Judiciary | Religion | Uncategorized
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In University days I had three mottoes for me: walks at random; talks at random; and thoughts at random. The first two have gradually disappeared in my life and the third is totteringly still there. What appears below is part of that.
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Two dozen and odd political parties coming together in the name of INDIA seems to have upset Narendra Modi. Apart from putting his hounds against them, he publicly castigates them on all occasions.
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Pakistan’s outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Leader of Opposition Raja Riaz Ahmed agreed upon the name of Senator Anwarul Haq Kakar and gave it to the President for appointment as caretaker Prime Minister till the elections. India also needs some such arrangement.
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The Indian Constitution has three parts — all independent. If one part shows tendency of encroaching upon another part, there is remedy to stop it. After elaborate preparation, the virtual censorship included, the Government has now conquered two parts– executive fully and legislature almost. The most difficult is harnessing the judiciary and Modi is moving towards that.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi castigates non-BJP leaders from the precincts of Parliament House. Wish he had the moral courage to say all those things from inside the House.
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Narendra Modi and Amit Shah leave no opportunity of reminding the people that leaders of non-BJP parties are corrupt. What about BJP? The moment the “most corrupt” person joins the BJP, he becomes non-corrupt and may be even made Deputy CM of a State?
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The most dangerous piece of legislation enacted by Independent India is the ‘Inter-Services Organisation(Command, Control and Discipline) Bill 2023’. Read with other steps taken so far, it enables the Defence Minister (read Prime Minister) to take over the country’s control with the help of Armed Forces.
Hitler took charge of party propaganda in early 1920, and also recruited
young men he had known in the Army. He was aided in his recruiting efforts
by Army Captain Ernst Röhm, a party member, who would play a vital role in
Hitler’s eventual rise to power.
In Munich there were many alienated, maladjusted soldiers and ex-soldiers
with a thirst for adventure and a distaste for the peace brought on by the
Treaty of Versailles and the resulting democratic republic. They joined the
German Workers’ Party in growing numbers.
Hitler had a new idea on how to topple the government and take over Germany
for himself and the Nazis – play by the democratic rules and get elected.
“…Instead of working to achieve power by an armed coup we shall have to
hold our noses and enter the Reichstag against the Catholic and Marxist
deputies. If outvoting them takes longer…
View original post 648 more words
Uddhav Thackeray targets Amit Shah
Posted on: July 10, 2023
In his first major statement after taking charge as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray demanded an inquiry into the death of Judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya. That was to hit at BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah. At the same time, Thackeray kept his line of friendly relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi open. An editorial in Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece “Saamna” described Narendra Modi as Uddhav Thackeray’s elder brother. Portents indicate a realignment of power structure within the BJP.
Brijgopal Harkishan Loya was a special CBI Judge in Mumbai where the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case was transferred on orders of the Supreme Court. Sohrabuddin was killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2005. The accused in the case included Amit Shah, then Minister of State for Home in Gujarat, and some senior police officers of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Judge Loya died on December 1, 2014 allegedly following a…
View original post 569 more words
Killing the spirit of Constitution
Posted on: June 19, 2023
“We, the people of India”, adopted a Constitution to ensure Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity to all citizens of the country. But in the past, “the people” have been pushed aside by the “we”, a small percentage of persons who have the resources and have mastered the art of grabbing power by hook or by crook. The country has no doubt made tremendous progress in the past six decades but the fruits of the progress have been cornered by the this small percentage of people with crumbs occasionally thrown to “the people”. If a provision of the Constitution came in the way, this small group did not hesitate in changing the provision. The Constitution has been amended more than 100 times and most of these amendments have been made to protect the interests of this elite group.
The amendment pertaining to the election to Rajya Sabha makes the dishonest designs…
View original post 608 more words
Varanasi, one of the holiest of the cities, shot into limelight in the beginning of this year for reasons other than religious or spiritual. BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had announced his decision to contest for Lok Sabha from Varanasi constituency. That catapulted Varanasi into the most watched city, by politicians, by the media, by professionals, by common people and, most importantly, by Election Commission of India (ECI).
As was expected, Varanasi witnessed a high-pitched electoral battle. Modi was declared elected by a margin of 3,71,784 votes over his nearest rival Arvind Kejriwal of AAP. The Congress candidate came third followed by that of BSP. Modi’s party, with as well as without its electoral allies, won a majority of the seats in Lok Sabha. Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26.
As a routine revision of the voters’ lists was held this month, it came out…
View original post 183 more words
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