The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission on a PIL challenging the recent amendments made to various laws which allegedly have legitimised electoral corruption and have lead to illicit funding of political parties.
The amended statutes, introduced through the Finance Act, 2017 and Finance Act, 2016, include the Income Tax Act, 1961, Representation of People’s Act, 1951, Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) and Companies Act, 2013.
A bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra sought response from Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO, which also opposed the method of making the amendments. It alleged that the amendments introduced through the Finance Act, 2017 were passed as a money bill and were unconstitutional and…