The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre, Election Commission and the Central Board of Direct Taxes on a petition challenging the validity of a provision of the Income Tax Act that allows political parties to receive "anonymous" cash donations below ₹2,000.
According to the writ petition filed by Khem Singh Bhati, Section 13A(d) of the I-T Act violates freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution as it deprives voters of the crucial knowledge about the source of political funding, preventing them from making a fully informed decision while casting their votes.
“It is only if the voters have information as to the persons who are financing the political party, they would be able to cast their votes rationally and intelligently,” the petition has submitted.
The petition also sought direction to the EC to scrutinise Form 24A contribution reports of all recognised political parties and to require them to deposit the amount received by way of contributions for which the address and/or PAN have not been furnished.