He said that the electoral system of the country is influenced by how the government treats the opposition parties.
Kolkata:
Noted economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s recent decision to scrap the electoral bond scheme and termed it a scam.
Speaking to PTI from Massachusetts in the US, he said the move will bring more transparency among the people in the electoral context.
Sen said, “Electoral bonds were a scam, and I am happy that they have now been removed. I hope there will be more transparency in the support people give to each other in the electoral context.”
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bond scheme earlier this month citing violation of constitutional rights of freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information.
The top court directed State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties to the Election Commission. This information must include the encashment date and value of the bond and must be submitted to the poll panel by March 6.
According to Sen, India’s electoral system has been greatly influenced by the nature of politics, making it difficult for common people to be heard.
“The electoral system in India is deeply influenced by the nature of party politics, making it very difficult for ordinary people to hear that they should participate in elections,” he said.
The economist said that the country’s electoral system is influenced by how the government treats opposition parties.
“It is influenced by the behavior of opposition parties and those the government wants to keep under sanctions. We want to have as free an election system as possible, in addition to citizens’ freedom of speech and action,” he said.
Sen asserted that “the Indian Constitution wanted to give adequate political freedom to all citizens and did not want any particular community to have a privileged position.”
Incidentally, senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram also lauded the Supreme Court’s decision to scrap the electoral bond scheme, saying it was a major victory for transparency.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
