On 19th February 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Shri Kalki Dham Temple in Sambhal district. The temple, being built by Shri Kalki Dham Nirman Trust is chaired by Acharya Pramod Krishnam who is known as the former Congress leader expelled for making “anti-party remarks”.
It was during this that PM Modi addressed the audience and spoke about how Mr. Krishnam had spoken about how he didn’t really have anything to give to him except his feelings.
During this statement, PM Modi’s words are reported to be taking a dig at the Supreme Court, especially in light of their recent judgement on the electoral bonds.
As per ANI, PM Modi said “During the welcome address, he (Acharya Pramod Krishnam) said that everyone has something to give but I have nothing, I can only express my feelings.
Pramod ji, it is good that you did not give me anything, otherwise the times have changed in such a way that if in today’s era, Sudama would give rice to Shri Krishna and the video would come out, a PIL would be filed in the Supreme Court and the judgment would come that something was given to Lord Krishna in corruption and Lord Krishna was doing corruption. It is better that you expressed your feelings and did not give anything.”
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Reports believe the statement is a jibe at the apex court since as per a report “based on the PILs filed, the court called the Electoral Bonds Scheme ‘unconstitutional’.”
On Thursday, 15th February, a five-judge constitution bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud quashed the electoral bond scheme claiming that it violated the right to information and infringed on free speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution.
The verdict further asked the State Bank of India (SBI) to post the transaction details on their portal after getting the information to maintain transparency with the general public of the country.
The judgement is just a few months before the Lok Sabha elections and reports claim that the scheme would have benefited the ruling party BJP with Livemint stating “ruling, which came months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, is seen as a big blow to the BJP, the biggest beneficiary of the electoral bond scheme.”
The court stated, “the right to information of the voter includes the right to information of financial contributions to a political party because of the influence of money in electoral politics (through electoral outcomes) and governmental decisions (through a seat at the table and quid pro quo arrangements between the contributor and the political party).”
When the government counsel had argued that the public did not need to be provided with such information on grounds to safeguard the privacy of the donors, the court stated “the right of a citizen to know how political parties are being funded must be balanced against the right of a person to maintain privacy of their political affiliations.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Moneycontrol, Livemint, Deccan Herald
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This post is tagged under: PM Modi, PM Modi supreme court, PM Modi electoral bonds, Election Commission, Electoral Bonds Scheme, supreme court, Electoral Bonds, Electoral Bonds supreme court ruling, Electoral Bonds supreme court judgement, Electoral Bonds supreme court, supreme court, PM Modi krishna, PM Modi krishna sudama
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