As the #ElectoralBonds case comes up in SC & the Central govt says citizens don't have a right to know source of bonds, here's a 🧵 on papers accessed under RTI Act on how concerns of RBI & ECI were ignored & proposal for public consultations dropped after a meeting with the PM.
Several laws were amended to allow Govt to bring Electoral Bonds scheme. Changes were made to RBI Act, Representation of People Act, Companies Act & Income Tax Act. RBI had raised serious concerns about changes being made to RBI Act in letter dated 30/1/2017 #ScrapElectoralBonds
Govt rejected objections of RBI on electoral bonds claiming, among other things, that these came late “at a time when Finance Bill is already printed” though RBI replied within 2 days! Noting signed by then FM. Why did govt seek comments if bill was final? #ScrapElectoralBonds
The then RBI Governor, Urjit Patel, flagged serious concerns about issuance of #ElectoralBonds in a letter to the Finance Minister. These included the risk of money laundering, forgery & cross border counterfeiting.
Election Commission flagged 2 key problems with Electoral Bonds-
• ECI being in the dark about sources of bonds will prevent it from monitoring party finances
•Removing safeguards on funding by companies will lead to shell companies being set up solely for funding parties.
Govt sought views of political parties WITHOUT sharing a draft of the #ElectoralBonds Scheme. INC, CPI & BSP objected & sought a copy of the scheme. SAD suggested that only profit making companies should be allowed to donate a %age of their profits.
In violation of Pre-legislative consultation policy, govt did not make draft of Electoral Bond Scheme public before notifying it. Info obtained under RTI suggests proposal to hold consultations with political parties & seek public comments was scrapped after a meeting with the PM
In a meeting, Election Commission flagged major concerns including:
-need for ECI to be informed by political parties reg funds received thru EBs
-discriminatory eligibility criterion allowing only political parties getting more than 1% of votes polled to receive funding thru EBs
Even Law Ministry objected to provisions in Electoral Bond Scheme. Said criteria of parties needing 1% of votes polled as condition for accepting Bonds was a violation of the Representation of Peoples Act.
More than ₹ 13,500 crores have been donated anonymously through #ElectoralBonds to political parties.
EBs are a threat to democracy- they promote unchecked quid pro quo & violate people’s RTI. Voters can’t make an informed choice if they don't know who is funding parties. Watch-
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Join us today (17th September) for a Public hearing on ‘Attacks on RTI Users and Protection of Whistleblowers in Odisha. Venue- Meeting Hall, Odisha Association for the Blind, Satya Nagar, Bhubaneswar from 10:30 am onwards.
Sarbeswar Behura of Jajpur district was grievously injured on March 27, 2021 when bombs were hurled on the car in which he was travelling in. He had been using the RTI Act to expose illegal mining in Jajpur district & had filed cases of corruption to the Lokayukta.
In total violation of the RTI Act, @PMOIndia refuses copy of files held by it regarding #PMCaresFund . PMO is a Public Authority under the RTI Act & cannot refuse records held by it even if it claims PMCares Fund does not come in the ambit of the transparency law. 1/n
RTI reveals that to accept CSR money, Ministry of Corporate Affairs stated that #PMCaresFund was set up by central govt. However to evade transparency, PMO says Fund is not a public authority, even though definition of ‘public authority’ under RTI includes body set up by govt 2/n
Intriguingly, after collecting CSR money for 2 months on grounds that #PMCaresFund was set up by Central govt, Companies Act was amended to explicitly include PMCares as being eligible for CSR funding. Was this done to claim that Fund is not a public authority under RTI Act? 3/n
Central & Delhi govts completely absent from relief operations in aftermath of communal violence in Delhi. Total abdication of responsibility. Relief being done by NGOs &individuals. Our report based on visit to Bhajanpura, ChamanPark, Shiv Vihar 6 days after violence started 1/n
Thousands have been displaced & require shelter, food supplies, health services & clothing. Most are taking emergency refuge in private homes. Govt needs to provide safe shelter for families. Full version of the report can be accessed at- drive.google.com/file/d/1PnGbS4…
Deserted galis of Shiv Vihar. Thousands of people, Hindus & Muslims, have abandoned their homes due to the violence. Worst violence & devastation appears to have taken place here at Shiv Vihar.
Of the 22 deaths in UP following protests against CAA, only 3 families have been given post mortem reports till date. Testimony at People's Tribunal on State Action in UP raises questions on whether there is an attempt to cover-up deaths caused by police firing. #UPcrackdown
Pattern emerging via testimonies of violence unleashed by UP police:
-Street lights turned off before violence
-Police without name badges
-People in plainclothes with lathis part of violence along with police
-FIRs don't mention bullet injuries of deceased persons #UPcrackdown
Justice Sudarshan Reddy, former Supreme Court judge says current situation in UP points to "Collapse of liberal, constitutional democracy in the state". #UPcrackdown
1. Electoral Bonds fail the basic test of transparency. 6000 crore given to political parties thru bonds, but Indian voters do not know source of funds. Info obtained under RTI Act shows BJP govt ignored objections against bonds. I share files in this thread- #ScrapElectoralBonds
2. Several laws were amended to allow Govt to bring Electoral Bonds. Changes were made to RBI Act, Representation of People Act, Companies Act & Income Tax Act. RBI had raised serious concerns about changes being made to the RBI Act in letter dated 30/1/2017 #ScrapElectoralBonds
3. Govt rejected objections of RBI on electoral bonds claiming, among other things, that these came late “at a time when Finance Bill is already printed” though RBI replied within 2 days! Noting signed by then FM. Why did govt seek comments if bill was final? #ScrapElectoralBonds
At the 'Non-Political' press conference by women, we posed 56 questions to Prime Minister @narendramodi .The questions centre around real issues being faced by the 'aam' janta- jobs, corruption, agrarian distress, crimes against women, inflation, human rights violations #56Sawal
The @BJP4India came to power on the plank of anti-corruption and by promising people a bhrashtachar-mukt Bharat. Will the government anwser these questions on the Lokpal, Whistleblowers Protection Act & black money stashed abroad? #56Sawal
We are witnessing an unprecedented agrarian crisis in the country. Farmer agitations were systematically ignored & sidelined by the @BJP4India government. What happened to the poll promise of doubling farmers income by 2022? #56Sawal