Income Tax Act in the Finance Bill for 2017 has some unexpected changes.

One of those is that officials of Income Tax Department can search an assessee’s property without disclosing the reason for doing so. This is not just unexpected, it brings memories of the dreaded Emergency of 1975.

The unholy nexus between corporates and politicians has existed since long. It’s also probably inevitable in a democracy. How else would political parties contest elections and even maintain offices and staff? Still, there should be limits to and transparency in all political donations. Reforms that limit corporate funding and ensure transparency about donors are the way to go. But one proposal in the Finance Bill removes the existing requirement for corporate donors to declare which party they have donated to. Why has transparency been thrown out the window on such an important matter? Even a party as opaque as the Congress has questioned this move. What an embarrassment for the NDA and BJP!

The bill also introduces the interesting concept of electoral bonds. It ensures donations made to political parties via electoral bonds from banks will be from legitimate funds. But both donors and the parties should also be made to declare the amounts donated and to whom.

As is well known, BJP received an unprecedented mandate in 2014, and has had some electoral success even in subsequent elections. After Indians were fed up of corruption, lack of accountability by politicians and a whole lot of problems they face every day, year after year, it’s logical to assume the overwhelming mandate was a mandate for a variety of transformations, including cleaning politics and making politicians accountable to ordinary Indians. While it is noticeable that the Prime Minister himself and some of his ministers are inspiring agents of change, the above moves fly in the face of what Indians expect from this government.


For India’s sake, one hopes these attempts at opacity are dropped from the Finance Bill. The journey of India’s over all transformation is a long, difficult and expensive one. Driven by political compulsions, some government decisions may seem to be compromises Indians have to reconcile with. But one hopes the government doesn’t do the exact opposite of what is expected of it.

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