Supreme Court to consider according hearing in Jan on plea seeking stay on electoral bond scheme
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would consider according hearing in January a plea of an NGO seeking a stay on the electoral bond scheme meant for collection of funds by political parties to contest polls.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, was told by lawyer Prashant Bhushan that around Rs 6,000 crore had been collected under the scheme, which have been red-flagged by institutions like the Reserve Bank of India and the Election Commission.
Bhushan, appearing for the Association for Democratic Reforms, said the scheme needed to be stayed as it had become akin for accepting bribe, money laundering and channelisation of black money.
"We have filed an application for stay of this scheme which is being misused by the party in power," he said, adding that the RBI and EC had already expressed their views on it.
"We will see this in January," the bench said.
The government had notified the Electoral Bond Scheme on January 2, 2018. As per its provisions, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India.
The ADR has said in its plea that certain amendments made in the Finance Act, 2017, and the earlier Finance Act, 2016, both passed as money bills, have opened doors to unlimited political donations even from foreign companies.
It said such amendments legitimised electoral corruption at a huge scale, while time ensuring complete non-transparency in political funding.
"The Finance Act of 2017 had introduced the use of electoral bonds which is exempt from disclosure under the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, opening doors to unchecked, unknown funding to political parties.
"The said amendments have also removed the existing cap of 7.5 per cent of net profit in the last three years on campaign donations by companies and have legalised anonymous donations," said the plea.
It said the use of electoral bonds for political donations was a cause for concern because these bonds were in the nature of bearer bonds and the identity of the donor was kept anonymous.
"Political Parties are not required to disclose the name of the person/entity donating to a party through electoral bonds. Since the bonds are bearer instruments and have to be physically given to the political parties for them to encash, parties will know who is donating to them.
"It is only the general citizens who will not know who is donating to which party. Thus, electoral bonds increase the anonymity of political donations," according to the plea.
The ADR said it had already filed a PIL on the issue of corruption and subversion of democracy through illicit and foreign funding of political parties and lack of transparency in the accounts of all political parties.
It said that through the amendments, the requirement of the donor companies to disclose details in their profit and loss account about the name of the political party to which a donation had been made was also removed.
"Only the total amount of donations to political parties has to be disclosed without naming the political party," it said.
The plea said with the removal of the 7.5 per cent cap on the net profits of the last three years of a company, now corporate funding had increased manifold as there is no limit on the amount a company can donate.
It said that even loss-making companies now qualify to make donations of any amount to political parties out of their capital or reserves.
"Further, it opens up the possibility of companies being brought into existence by unscrupulous elements primarily for routing funds to political parties through anonymous and opaque instruments like electoral bonds.
"This has increased the opacity of funding of political parties, and the danger of quid pro quo and if any benefits are passed on to such companies or their group companies by the elected government," it said.
This has a major negative implication on transparency in political funding and are in violation of citizens' right to information, a fundamental right, it added.
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Maldivian military diver dead while searching for bodies of four Italian divers
Colombo (AP): A Maldivian military diver died Saturday while searching for the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave.
The group of five Italian divers is believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 metres in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy's Foreign Ministry. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 metres.
Maldives Presidential Spokesman Mohammed Hussain Shareef said that Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defence Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital.
“The death goes to show the difficulty of the mission,” he said.
Earlier, Shareef said the searchers had prepared a plan based on their progress exploring the cave on Friday. Mahudhee was part of the group that briefed Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on the rescue plan when he visited the search site on Friday.
Rough weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts.
The Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said everything possible would be done to bring the victims home. His ministry stated it was coordinating with Divers Alert Network, a specialist diving organisation, to support recovery operations and the repatriation of the bodies. The cause of the deaths remains under investigation.
The victims have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, according to the Maldivian government.
Benedetti's body was recovered on Thursday.
Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, the University of Genoa said in a statement Friday. However, the scuba diving activity during which the deadly accident occurred was not part of the planned research and was “undertaken privately,” it said.
The statement also said the two other victims — student Sommacal and recent graduate Gualtieri — were not involved in the scientific mission.
Cave diving is a highly technical and dangerous activity that requires specialised training, equipment and strict safety protocols. Risks increase sharply in environments where divers cannot head straight up and at depth, particularly when conditions are poor.
Experts say it's easy to become disoriented or lost inside caves, particularly as sediment clouds can sharply reduce visibility.
Diving at 50 metres also exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers by most major established scuba certifying agencies, with depths beyond 40 metres considered technical diving and requiring specialised training and equipment.
Shareef said Benedetti's body was found near the mouth of the cave and authorities believed the remaining four had entered the cave.
Two Italians, a deep-sea rescue expert and a cave diving expert, are expected to join the recovery effort, Shareef said.
Italian officials said that around 20 other Italians on the same expedition aboard the vessel “Duke of York” were safe. Italy's embassy in Colombo was providing assistance to those onboard and had contacted the Red Crescent, which offered to deploy volunteers to help provide psychological aid.
The Maldives tourism ministry said it has suspended the operating license of the “Duke of York” pending an investigation.
The Italian foreign ministry said the cave is divided into three large chambers connected by narrow passages. Recovery teams explored two of the three chambers on Friday, but the search was limited due to considerations over oxygen and decompression.
On Saturday, they will explore the third chamber, the ministry added.
Italian officials and the honourary consul are in contact with the victims' families to provide assistance.
