NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear a plea to do away with the exemption granted to political parties under Income Tax law and to restrain the parties from receiving donations in cash.The court sought responses from Centre and Election Commission on the plea which challenged the validity of a provision of the Income Tax Act that allows political parties to receive “anonymous” cash donations below Rs 2,000.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also issued notice to all recognised political parties and sought their response on the PIL.According to section 13A, the income of a political party from the following sources is exempt from tax: income from house property, income from other sources, capital gains and income by way of voluntary contributions the party receives from any individual.The petition, filed through advocate Jayesh K Unnikrishnan, said that clause (d) of section 13A of Income Tax Act is violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, and political parties must disclose the names and all other particulars of persons donating any sum of money and no amount must be received in cash so as to maintain transparency in political funding.”The clause allows political parties to receive anonymous cash donations below Rs 2,000. This lack of transparency deprives voters of crucial knowledge about the source of political funding, including the donors and their motives, preventing them from making a rational, intelligent and fully informed decision when casting their vote. Ultimately, this undermines the purity of the election process and compromises the integrity and accountability of a healthy democracy by allowing the potential influence of undisclosed or tainted money,” the petition said.It said political parties are central entities in a democratic form of govt, and they must function in a transparent manner, with there being special reason for financial transparency to avoid unlawful influences of money power in the policymaking of the political party in govt. Receipt of huge amounts by political parties through purported donations from undisclosed sources is a breach of the public trust doctrine, it said.The bench was initially reluctant to entertain the PIL and suggested that the petitioner move the high court but agreed to examine it after senior advocate Vijay Hansaria stressed that the issue had pan-India implications and involved all recognised political parties.
