Criminal Intent Of Electoral Bonds Was Clear From The Day Of Inception

By K Raveendran

With more sordid details emerging on the goings on behind BJP’s success in cornering the lion’s share of the electoral bonds proceeds in the wake of the unwavering stand taken by the Supreme Court on the issue, the criminal intent behind the scheme’s evolution is becoming increasingly clear.

But the most discomforting part is that there is hardly any surprise in this for those who have been in the know of things. Civil society outfits including the Association of Democratic Rights had red-flagged the government move right from its inception, saying it would open the floodgates of corruption.

Even The Election Commission and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had raised objections about the scheme due to the lack of transparency inherent in this system. Unlike regular donations, where the donor’s identity is disclosed, electoral bonds allowed anonymity. This opacity undermined the very essence of democratic accountability. The Election Commission had warned that the bonds would have serious implications on transparency of political funding of political parties and the scheme’s potential to facilitate illicit funding and to subvert the electoral process.

The RBI, similarly, could see scheme’s potential for facilitating money laundering. The central bank was particularly worried about the fact that while the identity of the person or entity purchasing the bearer bond will be known because of the Know Your Customer requirement, the identities of the intervening persons or entities will not be known. This has, in fact, turned out to be the trojan horse.

The RBI had clearly deprecated the idea of bearer bonds in the form of the electoral bonds, insisting that the contributions could have been made in the form of cheques, demand drafts or through electronic and digital payments to ensure only tax-paid money was used for the purpose. It had unequivocally stated the possibility of shell companies being used to carry out money laundering transactions. It also highlighted the absence of a paper trail, making it impossible to trace the source of funds and pointed out that the veil of secrecy shrouding electoral bonds ran counter to the principles of financial transparency and accountability.

Revelations about how the Modi government exploited the criminal potential of the scheme have further muddied the waters. It was a sad day for Indian democracy when it became public knowledge that the government was using the enforcement agencies to pressure companies into making donations to the BJP. In fact, the Supreme Court in its historic judgment, striking down the obnoxious scheme, has singled out the scheme for all possible vices: scope of quid pro quo, kickbacks, and money laundering. The nexus between political power, corporate interests, and enforcement machinery has raised serious questions about the sanctity of our democratic processes.

It is natural for companies, when faced with regulatory heat, to seek government protection through means of illegal gratification, for which the bonds provided the best possible vehicle. But for a government to set off its agencies after vulnerable companies with the intent of extracting coercive donations is a much deeper criminal conspiracy. And it turns out that this was not a freak occurrence, but a well-planned operation undertaken with the help of institutions over which the government held control.

It is in this context that the reluctance by the State Bank of India, mandated with the administration of the scheme, to come clean on the bonds has to be seen. Worse still, reports of high-handed behaviour by the Union finance ministry with regard to the operation of the scheme for the benefit of the ruling party have come to light. For instance, Reporters Collective has revealed that the finance ministry, when it was headed by the late Arun Jaitley, had forced SBI to accept electoral bonds of Rs 10 crore after his partymen walked in to the bank to encash expired electoral bonds.

The net result of the scheme’s abuse by the ruling party was that its war chest swelled, enabling it to emerge as a dominant force in Indian politics. These bonds, which represented over half of the BJP’s total income, clearly tilted the scales in its favour during crucial elections.

The BJP didn’t stop at amassing funds; it strategically deployed them to destabilize opposition-ruled states. The proceeds from electoral bonds were channelized into campaigns, propaganda, and influencing local politics. Opposition parties found themselves outgunned, struggling to match the financial muscle of the ruling party. The very democratic fabric of the federal structure was strained as opposition parties, now INDIA bloc faced an uphill battle against a well-funded adversary. (IPA Service)

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