What is the issue?
- Congress and BJP received foreign funds from two subsidiaries of Vedanta, a UK based company from 2004 to 2012
- The Association for Democratic Rights (ADR) filed a PIL plea against the two parties for violating the FCRA. The Delhi High Court had held that the donations were illegal in 2014.
- Government has not taken any action against the two parties after the order
- Delhi HC has asked why no action has been taken
- Home Ministry will seek the Attorney-General’s opinion to amend the repealed Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 1976, which barred foreign donations to political parties
Relation with FCRA amendment:
- In 2017, the NDA government had amended the FCRA through the Finance Bill route, which allowed foreign-origin companies to fund NGOs here and also cleared the way for donations to political parties by changing the definition of “foreign companies.”
- Although the amendment was done retrospectively it only made valid the foreign donations received after 2010, the year when the 1976 Act was amended
- The retrospective amendment did not apply to donations prior to 2010
- ADR filed a contempt petition for donations received prior to 2010