SYNOPSIS OF THE FACTS

Bharat Nadu is a democratic federal country with parliamentary form of

government and multiple party systems. The constitution of Bharat Naidu
under Article 324 gives power to the election commission to control and
supervise the elections at centre and state.

Election campaign needs a large amount of funds so the political parties

rely on donations from public, politicians, industrialist and corporate
house to fund their election campaign. Section 29 B of the
Representation of the People Act, 1951(RoPA) deals with these donations.
Section 29C of RoPA provides that the contribution of more than Rs
20,000 should be reported to the election commission in order to get
income tax relief under Income-tax Act, 1961. A report by The
Democratic Reform Project showed that more than 50% of the funds
came from unknown sources as the parties broke the funds below
Rs.20,000.

Bharat Nadu People’s Party ( BNNP) And United National Congress Party
(UNC) are two major political parties. BNNP had its alliance with
National Democratic Front (NDF) which holds 282 out of 545 seats in
Lower House and 80 seats out of 245 in Upper House making BNNP
largest party.

The 20th Law Commission highlighted the need for transparent funding
later the Government of Bharat Nadu enacted Political Donation
(Regulation) Act, 2017 ( PDR Act ) [Annexed] which was passed as a
money bill. Under this Act electroral bonds to be made instrument for
donation and Bharat Nadu Daan Bank was established to process the
same and four amendments to legislation were made through PDR Act.
The four legislations amended were :

a) Section 31 of the Reserve Bank of Bharat Nadu Act, 1934, through

Section 3 of the PDR Act

b) Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RoPA),

through Section 4 of the PDR Act

c) Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, through Section 5 of the
PDR Act and

d) Section 182 of the Companies Act, 2013, through Section 6 of the

PDR Act.

The effect of amendment is :

The electoral bonds can be purchased in denomination ranging from Rs
1,000 to Rs 1 Crore from Bharat Nadu Daan Bank with no upper limit
on the donation amount and identity of donor will be kept anonymous.
No donation above Rs 2000 can be made otherwise than by an Account
Payee cheque drawn on a bank on an Account Payee bank draft or use
of electronic clearing system through a bank account or an electoral
bond.
Bharat Naadu Daan Bank will exclusively issue Electrol Bonds .
The Democratic Reform Project objected that the bonds will lead to
anonymous donation, lack of transparency and conversion of black
money to white. By Anonymous donation corporate house may influence
the political party and the private interest may take over public interest.
The Democratic Reform Project filed a petition in the Supreme Court to
declare PDR Act unconstitutional as it hinders free and fair elections.
Mr. Ramakant, a Journalist questioned the certification of PDR Act as a
money bill and that the act is not certified as a money bill under
Article 110 by the speaker of the House. Further to escape the scrutiny
by Upper House bill was passed as a money bill. This act being
questioned Attorney General of Bharat Nadu told that certification of
Act as money bill is function of the Parliament and the members abide
by that. Later Ramakant filed petition in the supreme court of Bharat
Nadu challenging the certification of Political Donation (Regulation) Act
as a money bill by the speaker of Lower House and consequently
quashing of the Act.
Ms. Vishrutyi an RTI activist filed an application with Bharat Nadu
Bank for the names of buyers and amount for which bonds were
purchased was denied stating that it is in fiduciary capacity and it’s
disclosure is exempted under 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(j) of RTI Act, 2005. After
this denial she filed a petition in Supreme Court contending that the
denial violates people’s right to know about a matter of public interest.
Mr. X a purchaser of the Electoral Bonds filed application contending
that revealing identity would violate his right to privacy.