‘What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’

The bond issue also raises several questions about the functioning of the SBI which has tried its level best to stonewall the Supreme Court’s directive to disclose details. What is even shocking is that the Chief Justice of India had to literally tell the bank chairman how to read the judgement and order for all details

It has been ‘Advantage BJP’ vis-a-vis the weak opposition for the past decade and this has been reflected in the ruling party which has mopped up funds through the electoral bonds which have been now declared unconstitutional. It is obvious that donors would make a beeline to the ruling party for apparent favours or out of fear. Remember, the Supreme Court had even described the CBI of UPA era as a caged parrot. Under NDA, the caged parrots have trebled – the ED, the Income Tax Department and of course the CBI. Now, with the electoral bond issue, we see a fourth version of His Masters Voice – the SBI.

Let us analyse the extortion racket, as Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi described the electoral bonds. Even a cursory look at the sequence of the purchase of the bonds clearly shows the link with the cases or raids launched by the three caged parrots. While the exact numbers will be out after we get to the other set of numbers - the alpha-numeric -imprinted on the bonds - which can be read only under ultraviolet light – it is certain that the entire scheme is fraught with fraud.

On the one hand the BJP has enjoyed a great run with the bond money, the second largest beneficiary, the Congress has been handicapped with the freezing of its bank accounts. So much so, that the grand old party is left penniless, unable to pay salaries or spend on its campaigns. Is that the level playing field and transparency that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is taking the bonds?

One does not have to imagine as to what would have happened had such a bond scam surface during the Manmohan Singh era! One has seen the way the BJP and the entire opposition hooked on to the Coalgate and 2G scams and demanded the then Prime Minister’s resignation. We had the media, too, fanning fire, then.

Cut to 2024. One wonders what happened to the same BJP which is in power now and where is the mainstream media? With nearly muted coverage by the national media, particularly the noise channels, it is left for the youtubers and few independent journalists to take up the cudgels on behalf of the society at large.

As a journalist who had covered several elections, political developments and scams, I keep wondering if the electoral bonds case is not a fit case for making it an election issue and cornering the BJP for the greatest political corruption of all times? A scam that sought to undermine the electoral process and even democracy, but thanks to the Supreme Court, democracy is safe and will continue to be so as long as the citizens are alert.

The bond issue also raises several questions about the functioning of the SBI which has tried its level best to stonewall the Supreme Court’s directive to disclose details. What is even shocking is that the Chief Justice of India had to literally tell the bank chairman how to read the judgement and order for all details - “When we say 'all details,' it includes all conceivable data. This interim order has merged with our final judgment. We will clarify that and say that the State Bank of India will not only file the bond numbers but also ask it so submit an affidavit saying that it has not suppressed any details. The onus should not be on the court." (as reported by Live Law).

Then we had the spectacle of Supreme Court Bar Association’s president Adish Aggarwala first urging the President of India to call for making the donors list public.“Disclosing such sensitive information, that too retrospectively, will result in chilling effect in corporate donations and participation in the democratic process…The possibility of them being singled out by those parties that had received less contribution from them, and harassed cannot be ruled out if the names of corporates and their quantum of contributions to various parties are revealed. This will be reneging on the promise given to them while accepting their voluntary contributions," the SCBA chief said (as reported by livemint.com).

The SCBA distanced itself from this request but Aggarwala moved the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice understandably dismissed it with the remark that it is 'Publicity Oriented'.

In a Johny-come-too-late case the three major trade bodies – CII, FICCI and Assocham – made a vain attempt to have the donors’ names blocked. The court said that the industrialists are approaching the court after the judgment has been delivered and it can do nothing in the matter, Live Law reported. “We can't make an exception for you,” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud verbally remarked during the proceedings. “What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”

Corruption of any kind is reprehensible. Corruption includes extortion methods, inducement, threats and quid pro quo favours. The electoral bond appears to have been engulfed in all these. The justification that the anonymous bonds and the way they were kept out of public knowledge does not hold water as the Supreme Court has held.

While many more details about the bonds are yet to unfold, there are many questions about corporate governance that will have to be answered. What is the role of The Registrar of Companies and SEBI in such cases of brazen corporate corruption. Aren’t the companies answerable even they indulge in this kind of corruption is perpetuated by unlisted entities of listed groups? How can loss incurring companies make huge donations by purchasing these bonds? How can any company buy bond beyond its top line? Have there been cases of money laundering? Who will invoke PMLA?

Since the caged parrots lack credibility, a Supreme Court-monitored special investigation team could unearth much more mine of unseen information. This is necessary for ensuring transparency and ensuring safety of democracy and corporate governance.

Tail Piece: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, while addressing the beneficiaries of PM SVANidhi scheme, said: “Modi is relentlessly working to improve the lives of the poor and the middle classes. Modi’s thinking is ‘welfare of nation by the welfare of public’, eliminating corruption and appeasement from the roots and making India the world’s third-largest economy”.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based media veteran now running many news-based websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provokingmessaging. The views expressed are personal)