ELECTIONS AND CORRUPTION
wealth.”7
What Rajaji wrote has become a painful reality for all Indians. Even after six and a half decades of independence, corruption arising out of the power of money and its debilitating influence on elections have become the bane of our time.
Corporate Funding of Elections and the Integrity of Voters Justice M. C. Chagla and Justice S. T. Desai of Bombay High Court while dealing with a case in 1957 involving contributions of a business house to a political party observed: “The very basis of democracy is the voter and when in India we are dealing with adult suffrage, it is even more important than elsewhere that not only the integrity of the representative who is ultimately elected to Parliament is safeguarded, but that the integrity of the voter is also safeguarded, and it may be said that it is difficult to accept the position that the integrity of the voter and of the representative is safeguarded if large industrial concerns are permitted to contribute to political funds to bring about a particular result…”8 The widespread concern expressed in the country about the corporate funding of the elections has to be understood in the context of the above
Below: The parliament building in India.
observations which were made in the formative period of our nation-building.
By safeguarding the integrity of the voter we can safeguard the integrity of the people’s representatives who are elected by the voters and, thereby, can ensure the integrity of the electoral process. The manifold measures taken by the Election Commission of India to monitor election expenses constitute a bold step to not only check money power vitiating our electrical process but also to put an end to corruption in our country. The slogan ‘Yes to Vote, No to Note’ coined by the Election Commission of India for the general elections to elect Members of Parliament for the 16th
Lok Sabha, in which
approximately 815 million voters of our country were expected to participate, constituted a significant step to sensitize the voters to protect their integrity. If as the former Chief Election Commissioner Shri S. Y. Quraishi stated that election expenses are sources of corruption, then we need to focus attention on the source itself to purge the electoral process of evil influences of money power and thereby put an end to corruption in our country.
It is pertinent to recall that in 1990, the Dinesh Goswami Committee Report on Electoral Reforms recommended that “There should be a complete
ban on donations by companies and the relevant law should be amended accordingly.”9 Shri Gopal Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal, while speaking at the Seventh National Conference on Electoral and Political Reforms in Chennai on 12 February 2011 said the following: “… we think it our duty to draw the attention of Parliament to the great danger inherent in permitting companies to make contributions to the funds of political parties. It is a danger which may grow apace and which may ultimately overwhelm and even throttle democracy in this country. Therefore, it is desirable for Parliament to consider under what circumstances and under what limitations companies should be permitted to make these contributions.” Former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh while addressing the annual general meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 24 May 2007 gave a ten point social charter to business houses. While elaborating on the ninth point on the responsibility of business to fight against corruption at all levels he stated that “businessmen who enter politics should erect a Chinese wall between their political activities and their businesses.”10
Political Parties and Disclosure of Election Funding
The
danger has to be met squarely. As per section 29C of the
Representation of People Act 1951 political parties are not required to disclose to the Election Commission the funds received by them from a person if such funds are below twenty thousand rupees only. Under such provisions of the above Act almost all political parties do not disclose the funds received by them on the ground that such funds are below twenty thousand rupees. Stringent measures have to be taken to make political parties accountable to the Election Commission in so far as the funds being received by them.
That is why the Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms recommended in 1990 that “Submission of false account should be made an electoral offence and the minimum punishment for violation of this provision should be two years imprisonment.” This recommendation has not been implemented even 24 years after it was put forward. It is extremely important to do so in 21st century India for the purpose of cleansing our democracy of the harmful impact of black money and excessive use of the power of money during election time. We cannot afford to ignore such recommendations at a time when public opinion is building up to deal with rising levels of corruption with a slew of legislative measures. While there is ceiling on expenses to be incurred by a candidate contesting election there is no such ceiling for the expenses being incurred by political parties during elections. This issue requires the urgent attention of Election Commission and political parties.
While participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha on 10 June 2014, Shri Sitaram Yechury, an Honourable Member of the House, urged the
198 | The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Three
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