AAP condemns proposed amendment in FCR Act

 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday strongly condemned and demanded immediate withdrawal of the change proposed in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to bail out the BJP and Congress from facing imminent action for having accepted foreign funds.

The amendment that was proposed with retrospective effect in the FCRA by Jaitley, when he moved the Finance Bill on February 29, which has now been exposed by the media, is illegal and a clear attempt to subvert justice, since the Delhi high court had in March 2014 held both the BJP and Congress guilty of having accepted foreign funds.

Further, the Supreme Court has so far refused to stay the Delhi high court judgement, even two years after the BJP and Congress were found guilty of having taken foreign funds. “Jaitley’s desperate move to quietly amend the FCRA is one of the worst examples of political opportunism, which is clearly aimed at saving the BJP and Congress from the action sought against these two parties by the Election Commission,” the statement reads.

Further, “The EC had written to the union Home Ministry in June last year seeking action under relevant provisions of the FCRA against the BJP and Congress for having accepted crores of rupees as funds from companies of London based Vedanta Group.

“Not only did the MHA keep sitting on the EC letter since almost a year now, the Modi has now broken all records of political impropriety by having struck a deal with the Congress to allow both the BJP and Congress escape law through an unethical amendment,” said AAP in a the statement.

“It is extremely shocking that Jaitley is trying to change the definition of a foreign company to bail out his own political party. This development will encourage black money in politics and will further harm the country’s democracy, if this FCRA amendment is allowed to be passed in Parliament. 

“The AAP appeals to all the non-BJP non-Congress parties to ensure the defeat of this amendment in Parliament and expose the unholy nexus of these two parties, which do not want transparency in political funding,” the statement added.