Electoral bonds will ensure opacity instead of transparency: Prashant Bhushan

NEW DELHI: Electoral bonds as mooted in the Union Budget 2017-2018 will ensure "opacity instead of transparency", senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan said today.

"Instead of ensuring transparency these electoral bonds will ensure opacity," he told reporters at the launch of Citizens' Whistleblowers Forum.

At the event, Jagdeep S Chhokar, Founder and Trustee of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), said, "The Finance Minister had said that these bonds are in the character of bearer bonds and will keep the identity of the donor anonymous. If the donor's identity is kept anonymous then how will this move ensure transparency?"

"Transparency and anonymity don't go together. If the purpose of electoral bonds is to ensure the anonymity of the donor then through these bonds another unknown source of political funding has been created," he said.

Presenting the Union Budget 2017-2018 last week, Jaitley announced two key steps on political funding -- restricting cash donations to political parties from an individual to Rs 2,000 and introduction of electoral bonds.