Welcoming the Supreme Court’s recent judgement on the electoral bonds scheme, former Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) TS Krishnamoorthy has suggested a “National Election Fund” as an alternative.
“I entirely agree with the judgement because I have publicly said even earlier that this was not a proper method of funding elections,” said Krishnamoorthy.
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the electoral bonds (EB) scheme and directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to stop issuing them immediately and submit all details to the Election Commission of India (ECI) by March 6 for making it public within a week.
Also Read:SC strikes down electoral bonds scheme, ECI to make donations public by March 13
The Supreme Court ruling added that it violated the right to information and Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
Krishnamoorthy also said that both the electoral bonds scheme and the previous method of funding elections promoted an “obnoxious nexus between corporates and political parties”, which influenced policymaking.
He suggested that the only way to “delink” this nexus was a National Election Fund with 100% tax exemption for both corporate and individual donors to facilitate the public funding of elections in which all parties would be allocated certain sums during polls.
{{/usCountry}}He suggested that the only way to “delink” this nexus was a National Election Fund with 100% tax exemption for both corporate and individual donors to facilitate the public funding of elections in which all parties would be allocated certain sums during polls.
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