Why did the Supreme Court of India annulled electoral bonds? Why does Kapil Sibal say, " Electoral Bonds are perhaps the biggest scams in history"? Why is SBI linked with this? To understand all of it, first, understand what Electoral Bonds are and how they subvert democracy.
Ambani and Adani's names are missing from the list, but several companies are linked to the organization. This clearly shows that there needs to be a better fit in identity tracing. But can we consider the list? Will this be an election issue this year? Why is the opposition quiet? Is there something in the donor list that is connected to the opposition? Estimation of 57% vs. 10% share in electoral funds. Millions of questions, but as a citizen with the RIGHT TO KNOW, I can sit here and assume what will happen with democracy and them.
The official press release about Electoral bonds states 5 points:
The Government has notified the Electoral Bonds scheme to cleanse the political funding system in the country. The broad features of the scheme
are given below:
1. An Electoral Bond would be a bearer instrument like a
Promissory Note and an interest-free banking instrument. A citizen of India
or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond.
2. Electoral bond would be issued/purchased for any value, in
multiples of `1,000, `10,000, `1,00,000, `10,00,000, and `1,00,00,000 from
the specified branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).
3. The purchaser would be allowed to buy an electoral bond(s) only after fulfilling all the extant KYC norms and paying from a
bank account. It will not carry the name of the payee. Electoral Bonds would
have a life of only 15 days, during which they can be used for donating only to the political parties registered under section 29A of the
Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured
not less than one percent of the votes polled in the last general election to
the House of the People or a Legislative Assembly.
4. The bonds under the Scheme shall be available for purchase for ten days each in January, April, July, and October,
as may be specified by the Central Government. The Central Government shall specify an additional period of 30 days in the year of the
General election to the House of People.
5. The bond shall be encashed by an eligible political party only
through a designated bank account with the authorized bank.
The proposal for this scheme was made by "LT Mr. Arun Jaitely" while presenting the union budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
January 2, 2018 - The Department of Economic Affairs notified the Electoral Bond Scheme. To make this functional, many legal frameworks have been created.
May 14, 2016 - The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 was amended. ( Foreign companies that have the majority of shares in Indian companies were given permission to donate to political parties). However, earlier, under the FEMA and FCRA 1999, foreign companies could not donate to political parties.
March 31, 2017 - The Finance Act, Income Tax Act, Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, Representation of the People Act, 1951, and Companies Act, 2013 have been amended.
In the Income Tax Act of 1961, political parties were exempted from keeping records of the contributions received through electoral bonds.
The RBI Act of 1934 permitted the Union Government to authorize any scheduled bank to issue electoral bonds.
In the RoPA of 1951, Political parties were removed from the obligation to keep records of any amount received through electoral bonds. They were also exempted to keep it in CONTRIBUTION REPORTS.
In the Companies Act 2013, The donation limit to a political party of any company has been removed. Before this, the companies could not give 7.5% of the profit in the last three years.
The main objective of this EBS is Transparency in funding for free and fair elections and control over black money. RBI has agreed to the fact that the scheme has the potential to clean up the system of political funding, but on
Sept 14, 2017, Urjit Patel wrote to LT. Arun Jaitley, We are concerned that issuing electoral bonds as bearer instruments leaves them vulnerable to misuse, particularly through shell companies. He proposed selling electoral bonds in digital format instead of physical forms. After RBI's concerns, the government amended the RBI Act.
January 2018 - SBI becomes the legal authorizer for issuing the electoral bonds.
The question may arise: During the passage of the legislative bill proposal, the opposition and reservations from RBI and ECI must have been there. How did this become the most significant scam? However, the reality is that "The government implemented the scheme despite opposition and reservations from the RBI and ECI" as stated by Kapil Sibal.
The filthiest game of politics has been played in the name of electoral bonds. The Supreme Court strikes down the electoral bond scheme: UNCONSTITUTIONAL ARBITRARY. The information that SBI purposely misled the Supreme Court of India in poll bond data. But at least some data is out now after poking SBI for the millionth time and getting it published by the ECI. The data revealed that out of the top 30 donors, 14 donors were raided, which opens a clear ground for discussion about the rest. They would have been a clear target.
The list of few donors who were raided or were in money laundering or land allocating cases gave a hefty amount to the BJP, and the rest of them are still unknown.
1 - Future Gaming and Hotel Services PVT LTD - 1386 Crore worth of electoral bonds.
2- Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited - 966 Crore worth of electoral bonds
3- Haldia Energy Limited - 377 Crore worth of electoral bonds
4- Vedanta Limited - 400 Crore worth of electoral bonds
5- Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital - 162 Crore worth of electoral bonds
6- DLF Commercial Developers Limited - 130 Crore worth of electoral bonds
7- Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited - 410 Crore worth of electoral bonds
The Quid Pro Quo is nothing new in politics but has been immensely used by the BJP, like donating 140 crores worth of electoral bonds and taking a benefit of 14,400 crores. BJP is very transparent in terms of taking advantage, giving benefits, and keeping the people of India divided in the name of religion. BJP is not just killing democracy but dividing all of us in the name of what's profiting them. It's not DONATION but EXTORTION. The Supreme Court has passed another notice that the alphanumeric code on the electoral bond must be shared. SBI is being slammed by SC repeatedly, and who will take assurance of the data given by SBI?
The list above shows that the donations exceeded 377% of the company's profit. Where is exactly the money coming from? MONIKA donated lakhs of electoral bonds, but the donor's identity needs to be traced.
Ambani and Adani's names are missing from the list, but several companies are linked to the organization. This clearly shows that there needs to be a better fit in identity tracing. But can we consider the list? Will this be an election issue this year? Why is the opposition quiet? Is there something in the donor list that is connected to the opposition? Estimation of 57% vs. 10% share in electoral funds. Millions of questions, but as a citizen with the RIGHT TO KNOW, I can sit here and assume what will happen with democracy and them.
SBI still needs to provide the data for 2018. Two thousand five hundred electoral bonds have yet to be included in the data for the same year in which the BJP's income doubled! The BJP's income doubled from 1,027 crores to 2,410 crores, and the Congress from 199 crores to 918 crores. Currently, we have only a set of data and not the complete data, the filth that has come out from the minimum information we have right now; imagine if we get the complete data.
In the end, all I can say is WAKE UP, YOUTH...ASK QUESTIONS, SEEK ANSWERS, AND MAKE OUR INDIA SECULAR AND DEMOCRATIC AGAIN.
SOURCES:
Well Presented!!
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