In the heart of New Delhi, a petition has been lodged with the Supreme Court urging an oversight by a special inquiry unit (SIU) into the alleged instances of “manifest quid pro quo” among political factions, corporations, and officials of investigative bodies in contributions via electoral certificates.
A constitutional panel of five judges from the apex court, on February 15, annulled the government’s electoral certificates initiative for clandestine political backing. In compliance with a mandate from the Supreme Court, the State Bank of India, the accredited distributor of electoral certificates, disclosed the data to the Election Commission, which subsequently made it public.
The electoral certificates initiative, introduced by the administration on January 2, 2018, was presented as an alternative to monetary contributions provided to political factions as part of its endeavors to instill transparency in political financing. The petition, lodged by means of legal representative Prashant Bhushan, has called for a directive for authorities to investigate the origin of financing of “front companies and deficit-making firms to various political factions, as has been uncovered through the electoral certificates data.
Furthermore, it has requested a directive for authorities to reclaim the sums from political factions as contributed by corporations to them as part of “quid pro quo agreements where these are determined to be proceeds of illicit activity.”