New Delhi, July 30: In a bid to bring transparency in the electoral process and funding of political parties, Lok Sabha today approved a bill amending laws to ensure accountability in donations given by private companies and individuals. Replying to a discussion on the Election and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2003, Law Minister Arun Jaitley said only political parties recognised by the Election Commission would be entitled to get the funds.
Those giving donations would have to do so in cheques and file the returns, otherwise they would not be entitled to income tax benefits, he said. Jaitley said the government had considered the recommendations of the Indrajit Gupta Committee on funding of political parties and brought in the legislation to amend the Representation of the People Act, Income Tax Act and the Companies Act for the purpose.
Stating no transparent mechanism had been created in 56 years of independence to finance the election process, Jaitley said the government had made a "humble beginning" to establish a system for funding of political parties by bringing in this bill. Besides the Indrajit Gupta panel recommendations, the government had considered the views of political parties and other individuals in formulating the bill, he said.
A suggestion for creating a corpus fund for the purpose financed jointly by states and the Centre could not materialise as the state governments refused to fund it given their financial position, Jaitley said. Bureau Report