SFFJ Webinar on Electoral Bonds
A webinar on electoral bonds carried forward the concerns of the plea filed by Common Cause and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in the Supreme Court in 2017.
Electoral bonds are again in the eye of a storm in the backdrop of the Bihar Assembly Elections, with ADR moving the Supreme Court recently to seek urgent hearing of its 2017 plea, filed along with Common Cause. The plea had challenged the introduction of the Electoral Bonds, as part of the Finance Act 2017, which have, arguably, made electoral funding of political parties more opaque, and legitimised corruption on an unprecedented scale.
The webinar was organised by Forum for Fast Justice, Mumbai and National Federation of Societies for Fast Justice, New Delhi on November 1, 2020. Titled “ELECTORAL BONDS: Boon or Bane for Democracy!: Are Electoral Bonds a form of Legalising Political Corruption,” it featured Dr Vipul Mudgal, Director and Chief Executive, Common Cause and Maj. Gen. Anil Verma (retd) as panellists. Speaking on the occasion Dr Mudgal pointed out how Electoral Bonds is the mechanism through which one can ambush the entire election process and its funding.
He added that electoral bonds offer insights into numerous other allied phenomena, including electoral funding, slush funds, shell companies, tax havens and stock market rigging. In order to embank this cascade of financial irregularities it is important that watchdogs like the media, Parliament, institutions etc are strong and vigilant.