The EC's move to enhance transparency could be a game-changer for political funding in the country
A meeting scheduled between the Election Commission (EC) and all political parties due on May 12 could take an interesting turn as the EC plans to take parties' responses on several proposals to toughen laws against donations and bribery.
Besides deliberating on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT), the commission will put its proposals before representatives of seven national and 48 regional political parties.
Despite the EC recommending the Union Home Ministry in 2012 to make offering bribe a cognisable offence, the government initiated the process to amend the sections 171B and 171E of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) only recently.
At the May 12 meet, the EC will seek views on its proposal to insert a new section 58B in the Representation of People's Act to enable them to take appropriate action, including countermanding of elections, if they come across any incident of bribery.
To address the issue of increasing criminalisation of politics, the commission will also be seeking a response to its proposal on disqualifying candidates even prior to being convicted by the court, in case of serious offenses. In addition, the commission now wants candidates facing charges of bribery and undue influence, would stand disqualified from the time charges are framed by the court.
To enhance transparency in funding of political parties, the EC also wants donations in cash not to exceed Rs 20 crore or 20 per cent of the total donations in a year or whichever is less. It has also proposed that for donations received in cash, tax exemption may be restricted to Rs 20 crore or 20 per cent the total donations received by the political party. It also wants change in the rules for opening dedicated bank accounts for election expenses of the candidates and transactions to be done through cheques or electronically in case the election expenses exceed Rs 2,000.
...& ANALYSIS
- The meeting between the EC and political parties is the first step in resolving the contentious EVM issue
- The EC's move to enhance transparency could be a game-changer for political funding in the country
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