Probe begins into foreign funds received by parties

In compliance with a Delhi High Court order on prima facie violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, the government has initiated steps to “relook and reappraise the receipts of the political parties and identify the contributions received from foreign sources.”

“In view of the High Court order, we have, along with the Election Commission, started the process,” said an official, refusing to share details of the developments.

The High Court had in March directed authorities to take action within six months after identifying the “foreign contributions” accepted from Vedanta subsidiaries.

Issuing the order on a PIL by the Association for Democratic Reforms, the High Court said, “We have no hesitation in arriving at the view that prima facie the acts of the respondents (BJP and Congress) inter-se, as highlighted in the present petition, clearly fall foul of the ban imposed under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976, as the donations accepted by the political parties from Sterlite and Sesa accrue from ‘foreign sources’ within the meaning of law.”

In its response, the government had earlier submitted that as an Indian citizen owned Vedanta, donations by the firm and its subsidiaries would not be as that by “foreign companies.”