HIMANGSHU RATHEE
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF LAW, THE NORTHCAP UNIVERSITY, GURUGRAM & PH.D. SCHOLAR, NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, DELHI
Abstract
Transparency and fair play in elections are the oil to any popular democratic machinery. In India free and fair elections are entrenched as a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. It implies that any law or amendment anathematic to the concept of a glasnost electoral process would be visited with severe judicial consequences. To this effect an ‘independent’ election commission is entrusted to check the electoral spending by political parties as an impartial watchdog. A recent 2018 notification of the Central Government brought into force a novel fund-raising scheme for the political parties. These donations would be anonymous with permissible non-reporting to election commission. In effect, anyone can donate any sum to certain political parties, and the concerned parties need not record or report the same to the Election Commission. The structures of the scheme cycle-back on the string of transparency, and fair electoral play. The paper does a constitutional analysis of the electoral bonds scheme. The analysis is so important since the scheme carries the potential to destabilize the electoral battleground. Accordingly, the paper is divided into four parts for a structured comment. The first part is an introduction to the concept of electoral bonds scheme, and the structure of the paper generally. The second section theorise the relevance of electoral finance, and study the 2018 scheme as an aberration to the principles of sound finance. Next part would highlight the constitutional infractions committed by the scheme by hitting at the core concepts of the Constitution by using the framework elaborated in the second part. The Supreme Court’s refusal of stay order of the bond scheme adds fuel to the fire. The last part would cover suggestions to bring the 2018 bonds scheme in line with the constitutional values.
Key Words: Electoral Bonds, Democracy, Constitution, Elections, Transparency, Election Commission, Fair Play