The Election Commission of India (ECI) has once again asked political parties to submit details of funds received by them through electoral bonds by November 15.
The reminder letter issued on Tuesday requested “the political parties, who are yet to furnish the information regarding Electoral Bonds received by them, to expedite the matter and furnish it to the Commission in a sealed envelope”.
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The reminder was sent to all political parties by the ECI as a follow-up of its letter dated November 3 which had asked “all such parties” which have ever got any donation through electoral bonds to furnish by Wednesday (November 15) the details of such contributions received by them since the inception of the scheme.
The Supreme Court had a day before on November 2, directed the election panel to produce before it in a sealed cover the “up to date” data of funds received by political parties through electoral bonds till September 30, 2023.
The top court had said that the exercise should be carried out on or before November 19, 2023 and the data in a sealed packet should be handed over to the Registrar (Judicial) of the court.
The ECI, in the November 3 letter, had also asked the political parties to share detailed particulars of the donors against each bond, the amount of each bond and the full particulars of the credit received against each bond.
The particulars had to be sent in double-sealed cover — one duly sealed envelope containing the particulars and second duly sealed envelope containing the first envelope — to its secretary of the election expenditure division, the letter which was addressed to the heads of all political parties said.
The electoral bonds scheme was notified by the government on January 2, 2018. According to the provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by any citizen of India or entity incorporated or established in the country.
Only political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and which secured not less than one percent of the votes polled in the last election to the Lok Sabha or a state legislative assembly are eligible to receive electoral bonds.
One of the main criticisms of electoral bonds has been the lack of transparency regarding the source of funds. The donor’s identity is not disclosed to the public or the ECI, which makes it difficult to track the origin of the political contributions.
