FM says electoral bond purchaser’s name protected by bank confidentiality

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday retorted to the Opposition’s protests over the Budget’s proposals on electoral bonds saying that there should be no fear of disclosure of names of those buying electoral bonds since banking confidentiality laws state that banks cannot divulge account details to the government or even to the courts.

Mr. Jaitley further urged the opposition to not “find problems with every solution” and that he was ready for a discussion if they had any improvements to proposals on electoral funding.

On the Opposition’s charges that banks’ non-performing assets had grown under the current government, Mr. Jaitley said that one major reason for the increase in NPA levels was that several such bad loans were kept hidden until the RBI conducted its Asset Quality Review last year. “It has been said that people make cash donations to parties to maintain their anonymity,” he said during the discussion on the Budget in the Lok Sabha. “But the banking companies regulation act has a secrecy law which says that banks cannot give account details to the government or even the courts.” “We need solutions. We do not want a situation where people have problems with every solution,” he added. “That is the problem with poll funding right now. People have problems with every solution, which will only keep us at the status quo.”

The ₹2,000 limit on cash donations to parties was suggested by the Election Commission, Mr. Jaitley added.

“The increase in NPAs is for two reasons. The first is the mounting interest on the loans given during the 2007-09 boom period, where indiscriminate loans were given to select individuals and sectors,” Mr. Jaitley said. “The second reason is that some NPAs were hidden under the carpet. After the RBI Asset Quality Review, the real figure has come.”

The problem, Mr. Jaitley said, was not in the current government’s management of the banks, but with the previous government’s “over-management” of the banks.

Mallya Loans

“Your leader has infinite number of times said that we gave some ₹1,200 crore advantage to one person who has fled to London,” Mr. Jaitley said. “Not a rupee advantage since May 26, 2014, has been given to that person by any bank whatsoever,” he added. “This falsehood has been repeated indefinitely but now the documents have come out and they are all over that this was happening not by the banks but this was happening through the intervention of North Block and the bank officials are having to pay for it now.”