29
Recognised Political Parties have not submitted their Donation Details to the
ECI
-
Last
date for submission of donations report was 30th November, 2014
-
Only
17 out of 45 recognised regional parties have submitted their contributions
reports
-
BJP
is the only National Party yet to file its contribution report to the ECI
-
Not
all national parties have followed the format prescribed by the ECI
New Delhi: Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) is the only National Party which
has not yet submitted details of the donations above Rs 20,000 to the Election
Commission of India (ECI) for the Financial Year 2013-2014. Among the recognised
regional parties, only 17 parties out of a total of 45 parties have submitted
their contributions reports at the time of this release.
Defaulting Political
Parties: The Representation of the People Act,
1951 states that “…the report for the
financial year under sub-section (1) shall be submitted by the treasurer of a
political party or any other person authorised by the political party in this
behalf before the due date for
furnishing a return of its income of that financial year under Section 139
of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), to the Election Commission.”. As
the due date for submission of the parties’ audited IT Returns was 31st
Oct,’14, BJP and 28 Regional Recognised
parties have defaulted on their donations report by more than a month. It
is to be noted that BJP had declared the maximum amount of Rs 83.19 crores from 2941 donations
during the Financial Year 2012-13.
Submission of
Contribution Reports by National Parties: It is
seen that BSP had declared that no
donation above Rs 20,000 was received by the party during FY 2013-14 and
filed the report on 13th Sept,’14,
while NCP had filed its report on 17th
Sept,’14, and declared donations
from 15 donors. CPI had filed its
report on 23rd Sept,’14 and declared receiving donations above
Rs 20,000 from 44 donors. CPM and INC filed their donations report on
the 30th Sept,’14 and declared donations from 70 and 712 donors respectively.
Inconsistencies in the
Format used: While
analysing the donations reports of National Parties it is seen that INC has not followed the format prescribed
by the ECI in declaring its donations details. The column for declaring PAN details of donors is not provided in the
contributions reports. Without the PAN details, it would be difficult to link the donors against their donations and hence trace the money
trail.
There are 182 donations to INC via bank transfer where the details of bank transfer (name of bank,
location, etc) and the PAN details of the donors are unavailable. Also, there
are a total of 64 donations made by cash
to INC which contain no details of
PAN, hence will remain untraceable.
Recommendations of ADR
For greater transparency and accountability in the functioning and
finances of political parties, it is crucial for the parties to submit their donations
statements in the format specified by the ECI apart from filing the same within
the time limit set by the ECI. This can be achieved by making the submission of
donations statement mandatory for all
political parties rather than only for the purpose of claiming tax
exemption.
ADR also recommends that the details of all donors to Electoral Trusts should also be available in the public
domain to increase transparency of funding of political parties.
Contacts
|
Media and Journalist Helpline
+91 80103 94248
Email: adr@adrindia.org
|
Maj Gen Anil
Verma (Retd.)
Head
National
Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms
+91 8826479910
|
Prof Jagdeep Chhokar
IIM Ahmedabad (Retd)
Founder Member National Election Watch, Association for
Democratic
Reforms
+919999620944
|
Prof Trilochan Sastry
IIM Bangalore
Founder Member,
National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
+919448353285,
|
Association for Democratic Reforms
T-95A, C.L. House, 1st Floor,
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
Gautam Nagar
New Delhi-110 049
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
Gautam Nagar
New Delhi-110 049
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