The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has been using the finance bill for the past three years to ease the rules for political funding.

While the government sought to legalize foreign political funding retrospectively through this year’s finance bill, it had allowed corporates to make anonymous and limitless political funding last year.

Analysts said it sets a dangerous precedent of lawmakers changing laws to protect their sources of funding, especially since the latest changes in laws have been done to circumvent a high court ruling that had found political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress flouting the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

Interestingly, both these parties have been at loggerheads in the ongoing second half of the budget session in which both the houses of Parliament have seen a series of disruptions over a number of issues.

This year’s finance bill, which was passed without a debate amid a ruckus in Parliament last week, seeks to legalize contributions made by foreign companies with effect from 5 August 1976, the date of the commencement of the original FCRA.

Finance Act 2016 had relaxed the definition of how a company will be categorized as a foreign source with effect from 26 September 2010, the date of the enactment of the new FCRA Act, which replaced the older one. However, this had left political parties open to scrutiny for the earlier years.

Last year, the Delhi high court had given the central government six months to probe accounts of political parties and look for violations of the FCRA.

“This is a dangerous trend because it is patently against the spirit of the Constitution, and what can be more dangerous than that? Changing laws have long-term implications and the fallout of this will be that the government will continue to do what it is doing on the strength of its numbers,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, founding member of the New Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

“All the political parties are together in this and no one is raising any alarm because it suits their purposes and makes their lives easier at the cost of the people, the country and the Constitution,” he added.

The latest amendment also comes at a time when the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the centre in response to a public interest litigation on the changes to political funding laws made through Finance Act 2017 and 2016.

Finance Act 2017 did away with the limits and disclosure requirements put on companies’ donations to parties. Earlier, a company could contribute only up to 7.5% of its last three years’ average net profit to political parties and it had to disclose the name of the political party and the amounts donated to them in its books.

Besides this, it also notified issuance of electoral bonds through which contributions could be made to political parties and capped cash donations to political parties at Rs2,000.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has been using the finance bill for the past three years to ease the rules for political funding.

While the government sought to legalize foreign political funding retrospectively through this year’s finance bill, it had allowed corporates to make anonymous and limitless political funding last year.

Analysts said it sets a dangerous precedent of lawmakers changing laws to protect their sources of funding, especially since the latest changes in laws have been done to circumvent a high court ruling that had found political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress flouting the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

Interestingly, both these parties have been at loggerheads in the ongoing second half of the budget session in which both the houses of Parliament have seen a series of disruptions over a number of issues.

This year’s finance bill, which was passed without a debate amid a ruckus in Parliament last week, seeks to legalize contributions made by foreign companies with effect from 5 August 1976, the date of the commencement of the original FCRA.

Finance Act 2016 had relaxed the definition of how a company will be categorized as a foreign source with effect from 26 September 2010, the date of the enactment of the new FCRA Act, which replaced the older one. However, this had left political parties open to scrutiny for the earlier years.

Last year, the Delhi high court had given the central government six months to probe accounts of political parties and look for violations of the FCRA.

“This is a dangerous trend because it is patently against the spirit of the Constitution, and what can be more dangerous than that? Changing laws have long-term implications and the fallout of this will be that the government will continue to do what it is doing on the strength of its numbers,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, founding member of the New Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

“All the political parties are together in this and no one is raising any alarm because it suits their purposes and makes their lives easier at the cost of the people, the country and the Constitution,” he added.

The latest amendment also comes at a time when the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the centre in response to a public interest litigation on the changes to political funding laws made through Finance Act 2017 and 2016.

Finance Act 2017 did away with the limits and disclosure requirements put on companies’ donations to parties. Earlier, a company could contribute only up to 7.5% of its last three years’ average net profit to political parties and it had to disclose the name of the political party and the amounts donated to them in its books.

Besides this, it also notified issuance of electoral bonds through which contributions could be made to political parties and capped cash donations to political parties at Rs2,000.