The jinn of electoral bonds is finally out in the public domain with the Election Commission of India (ECI) uploading the details of the political donations and the beneficiaries on its website. That thousands of crores of rupees were donated by corporate houses through electoral bonds is evident through these details, this intriguingly, also reveals how almost all the top donors had some or the other investigations going on in their or their company’s name through various investigating agencies of India. The details of which corporate house donated to which political has party has been disclosed by the State Bank of India as per the Supreme Court (SC) notice, the interesting link between the top donors and the investigations on these, specially for money laundering in many of the cases establishes the apprehensions of the apex court of “quid pro quo” . It is now crystal clear that electoral bonds not only failed in its purpose of bringing transparency to political funding, but also that these most likely became instrument of legitimising money laundering by political and financial misappropriation. This also exposes the political hypocrisy- that a legitimate government instrument, in the name of electoral bonds scheme was used by making due amendments in the legal system to amass the disproportionate money on one hand and an illegal system of money laundry was used as a means to achieve the goal of amassing money in the name of political funding in the name of bringing transparency to the system while curbing black money.
As expected the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party being the biggest beneficiary of the electoral bonds scheme, Trinamool the second and Indian National congress stand third biggest the biggest beneficiaries.
After the Electoral Bond Scheme was struck down by the Supreme Court on February 15, the SBI which was bank to facilitate the purchase and redemption of the electoral bonds submitted the details under the court’s direction to the ECI which, again as per the court’s compliance, uploaded the details on its website. Since the SBI had only shared the details of the donors and the donee, it was not clear in the beginning as to who donated to which political party and this led to the apprehension that the entire purpose of striking down the Electoral Bonds Scheme as “unconstitutional” on account of these violating the “right to information” would fail as the general elections are too close and the redeemed money would be (mis)used in the electoral process.
The Chief Justice DY Chandrachud taking cognizance of the urgency issued notice to SBI to furnish details of the secret code linking the relationship between the donor and the beneficiary. The apex court submitted, “that SBI has not disclosed the Electoral Bonds numbers (alphanumeric numbers). Notice be issued to SBI. We direct the registry to issue notice to SBI returnable on Monday.”
Interestingly, the SBI list is conspicuous of the absence of big corporate houses purchasing the electoral bonds. The top donors’ details vividly indicate how the electoral bonds not only could have promoted money laundering but also could have been used as an instrument for “quid pro quo” as speculated by the apex court while striking the scheme down as “unconstitutional”.
Top donors and their investigation cases, an interesting link!
There is an interesting pattern reflecting in the details of top donors who purchased the electoral bonds between 2019 till 2024, almost all of these invested crores of rupees in purchasing electoral bonds and also have some or the other investigations going on in their or their company’s names.
At least 14 out of the top 30 companies which purchased electoral bonds from 12 April 2019 to 24 January 2024 faced action by central or state probe agencies, revealed data from the State Bank of India released by the Election Commission (EC).
Santiago Martin, popularly known as the ‘lottery king’, through his company Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd, turns out to be the biggest donor. Martin was a labourer in Myanmar who transformed in a short time into ‘Lottery King’ and his Gaming and Hotel Services is one that intervenes dreams with political scandals. Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd donated Rs 1368 crore between 27 October 2020 and 5 October 2023. In May 2023, the ED attached Martin’s Rs 457 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with a case linked to the alleged loss of over Rs 900 crore to the Sikkim government.
Martin has had multiple run-ins with the law and is also under the scanner of multiple investigative agencies. In 2008, Martin came into the spotlight for an alleged fraud of over Rs 4,500 crore against the Sikkim government. In 2011, he faced searches from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka police forces as part of a crackdown on illegal lottery businesses. In 2013, the Kerala police conducted raids on Martin’s premises as part of an investigation into illegal lottery operations in the state. In 2015, the Income Tax Department raided Martin’s premises across various states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, on allegations of tax evasion and financial irregularities.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure is reflected as the second biggest donor in the list published by the EC and this too has had run-ins with the investigating agencies. In October 2019, the Income Tax department carried out raids at multiple offices of Telugu tycoon Krishna Reddy Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) in Hyderabad and other cities. Since then, the company has donated Rs 966 crore in electoral bonds.
Vedanta group collectively donated Rs 400 crore in electoral bonds and interestingly one of its companies, Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL) was raided by the ED in connection with a money laundering probe in August 2022. Likewise Haldia Energy Limited which donated Rs 377cr in electoral bonds, the fourth largest donation through the electoral bonds, faced action by the Central Bureau of Investigation in March 2020.
While this pattern of top most donors having investigations in their names by various agencies for money laundering may not be a coincidence this also indicates how the electoral bonds in itself could have been used as an instrument for money laundering and a cover-up in the name of transparency and curbing the black money.
