Govt clean chit to BJP, Cong on foreign funds

R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 23

The Centre has given a clean chit to the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress by accepting their contention that they had not received any funds from foreign companies in violation of the ban under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the government acknowledged that both parties had received funds from companies incorporated abroad, but majority shares of those companies were held by Indians and, as such, these would not come under the category of foreign companies.

The two parties have come to the Supreme Court, challenging the Delhi High Court ruling on March 28, 2014, on a PIL that they had received overseas donations. The HC had asked the government to have a re-look on the issue, re-appraise their receipts and take suitable action. When the two appeals came up for detailed hearing by an apex court Bench comprising Justices JS Khehar and Arun Mishra, the Centre and the two parties sought an adjournment, pleading that their arguing counsel were not available.

Appearing for the PIL petitioner who was instrumental in the HC verdict, counsel Prashant Bhushan said the parties and the government were hand in glove and were adopting dilly-dallying tactics to buy time as they knew they were on a slippery wicket.

Bhushan pleaded against adjourning the hearing time and again. Accepting the plea, the Bench posted the final hearing for September 14 and 15 and clarified that no further adjournment would be granted.

In its reply, the Election Commission said it pursued the matter with the Union Home Ministry following the HC verdict. In the appeal, the Congress said it had not concealed or suppressed the contributions received from two companies, Sterlite Industries and Sesa Goa Limited, and had duly declared them in the returns submitted to the EC as required under the RP Act, 1950. There was also no suspicion that the amount was utilised for unlawful activities.

Though the two companies were subsidiaries of the UK-based Vedanta PLC, 50 per cent of the shares in Vedanta were held by Anil Aggarwal and his family and as such any “contribution made by them will not be deemed to be contributions from a foreign source,” the party said.