The double-speak of parties on foreign funding | Opinion
Hindustan TimesAs India’s border stand-off with China continues, the latter’s aggressive manoeuvres raise difficult questions about India’s diplomatic options, foreign partnerships, and future defence requirements. In 2014, the Delhi High Court found both the BJP and the Congress guilty of accepting donations from several foreign corporations In response to Opposition barbs that the Narendra Modi government’s China policy has been tantamount to “appeasement”, the BJP unearthed evidence that Beijing had previously funnelled money into the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, a Congress-affiliated brain trust. In a landmark 2013 judgment, the Central Information Commission ruled that India’s political parties operate as “public entities,” rendering them subject to the provisions of the Right to Information Act. In 2014, the Delhi high court found both the BJP and the Congress guilty of accepting donations from several foreign corporations. In 2016, these two rivals set aside their bitter differences to bail one another out by amending the 2010 Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to retroactively redefine what a “foreign source” was under the law.
History of this topic
India’s Supreme Court scraps election funding system that allows anonymous donations to political parties
The Independent
66% of income of 7 national parties in 2021-22 came from electoral bonds, other 'unknown' sources: ADR
The Hindu
I-T Dept furnishes ’contradictory’ response to RTI on political parties’ income tax returns
Live Mint)
Registered Unrecognised Political Parties Increased Two-fold from 2010 to 2019: ADR
News 18
National parties got Rs 11,234 crore donation from unknown sources from 2004-19: ADR
India Today‘67% of donations to national parties by unknown sources’
The Hindu)
EC tells Supreme Court provisions in laws on political funding will have 'serious repercussions' on transparency
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