The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): The worst fears of quid pro quo between purchasers of electoral bonds and beneficiary political parties in power, which the Supreme Court expressed elaborately in its judgment on the electoral bond scheme, have come true. It turns out that some of the largest bond purchases had been preceded by coercive action from enforcement agencies answering to the Modi government.
Even the sketchy information that emanates from the list of donors and recipient parties suggests the existence of an intricate web, where power dynamics and financial interests intersect. The revelations have sent shockwaves through the nation, exposing a shadowy network of influence, coercion, and vested interests.
For instance, several biotech and pharmaceutical companies have been found to buy the bonds at the same time, obviously indicating compulsions of regulatory heat from the government agencies. One has no means to estimate the full implications of the fraud committed on the people and the system, the country as a whole.
The electoral bond scheme was introduced in mid-2017, a period marked by significant upheaval. The country had just weathered the twin storms of demonetization and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). These seismic events had far-reaching consequences, particularly for micro, medium, and small-scale industries. As the dust settled, large corporations seized the opportunity to consolidate their market share, leaving smaller players struggling to recover.
In September 2019, the Modi government bestowed yet another boon to corporate India, by slashing the base corporate tax rate from 30 percent to 22 percent for existing companies and further reducing it to 15 percent for new companies launching fresh capital investment projects. The finance ministry is estimated to have sacrificed a staggering Rs 1,45,000 crore to grant these concessions to companies.
Then, the narrative took an unexpected turn when instead of channelling these tax incentives into financing additional investments and job creation, most of the large corporations opted to bolster their profitability without expanding their capacity. The promised surge in capital investments remained elusive, leaving the original intent unfulfilled.
This in turn left huge scope for pressuring the companies, which the government seems to have developed into an art, instituting the obnoxious electoral bond scheme. At the very outset it was clear that the scheme would open the floodgates of corruption. Every conceivable agency, including the Election Commission and the RBI, had opposed the scheme due to its potential for abuse, but the Modi government had different ideas.
The biggest donor has turned out to be a little-known Kerala lottery company called Future Gaming and Hotel Services, which has been accused of a number of shady deals, including questionable connections with a prominent leader of the ruling CPI-M. The other prominent donors featured on the list included steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel and Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta.
According to the data uploaded by the poll panel, the buyers also included Spicejet, IndiGo, Grasim Industries, Megha Engineering, Piramal Enterprises, Torrent Power, Bharti Airtel, DLF Commercial Developers, Apollo Tyres, Edelweiss, PVR, Keventer, Sula Wines, Welspun, Sun Pharma, Vardhman Textiles, Jindal Group, Phillips Carbon Black Limited, CEAT tyres, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, ITC, Kaypee Enterprises, Cipla, and Ultratech Cement.
The intriguing link between the bonds and corporate behaviour is already in public domain and the list of donors and recipient parties provides tantalizing clues. Several companies which surfaced as major bond purchasers had faced compulsions of regulatory pressure on account of their commissions and omissions, almost creating a pattern.
The simultaneous bond acquisitions hint at more than mere financial transactions. Apparently, the bonds helped them avert further trouble. The quid pro quo arrangement looms large. These companies, seeking relief, appear to have come up with the ultimate solution to the fix they found themselves in: an unspoken understanding of financial support to the ruling party in exchange for favourable policies, contracts, or other concessions.
The most disturbing part is that the SBI had become a willing partner in committing this Himalayan fraud and the Supreme Court promptly called its bluff, mincing no words in criticizing the SBI for withholding the unique serial numbers of the now banned electoral bonds while uploading the details on the Election Commission website. The court demanded clarification, issuing a notice to the SBI, and mandating a response by March 18, emphasizing the transparency concerns surrounding the scheme. (IPA Service)
By K Raveendran
