EC's view has been that there are grave problems in electoral bonds scheme

The Election Commission had on many occasions raised red flags to the government on the electoral bonds scheme, such as removal of the cap on donation by corporates, the possibility of shell companies being used to launder money and foreign funding making its way into the Indian political system, says O.P. Rawat, who was election commissioner from August 15, 2015 to January 22, 2018, and chief election commissioner from January 23, 2018 to December 1, 2018. The concerns were raised when the Finance Bill of 2017 was passed, which contained the amendments that paved way for the bonds, and also after the scheme was introduced in January 2018. Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

- SONI MISHRA

INTERVIEW

O.P. RAWAT, former chief election commissioner

Q/ What are the major takeaways from the details of electoral bonds that have been made public?

A/ Whatever has come in the media so far shows that the electoral bonds scheme was good in the sense that it facilitated smooth flow of funding from the corporates to the political parties, which was hitherto not available through any other instrument or procedure. In just a period of five years, ₹16,000 crore was passed on to political parties. That was the only positive aspect of the scheme. All other aspects were negative—there was no check on shell companies contributing or foreign sources contributing or money laundering taking place using the bonds.

There was no foolproof check on all these things. And that made the whole thing dicey because any government scheme which cannot check the enforcement of all legal provisions cannot be accepted. There is the case of one company earning ₹2 crore profit every year and contributing ₹183 crore. From where has that money come? It is important to note that most of the donor companies are unlisted companies.

Q/ Do you feel that you stand vindicated, because the commission had raised several red flags regarding the scheme when it was conceived in 2017-2018.