Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) is a Non-Political, Non-Partisan and a Non-Governmental Organization. It was founded on August 1, 1999 by a group of Professors from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad and National Institute of Design and some alumni of IIM to work towards strengthening democracy and governance in India by focusing on fair and transparent electoral processes.
The stated mission of ADR is “improving and strengthening democracy in India ”
Objectives
- To work actively towards Electoral Reforms and Reform of the Government and the Bureaucracy
- To work towards strengthening Right to Information as a tool and facilitate the process towards greater transparency of those in power
- To mobilize public opinion and facilitate a dialogue between policy makers and the civil society and to work towards empowerment of ordinary citizens
Background
Early 1999: 11 IIM-Ahmedabad professors get together to form Association for Democratic Reforms to work on electoral reforms.
August 1999: ADR files PIL in Delhi High Court seeking disclosure of pending criminal cases by candidates contesting elections to parliament and state assemblies.
November 02, 2000: Delhi High Court upholds above PIL.
December 2000: Government of India appeals to Supreme Court against the judgment of Delhi High Court.
May 02, 2002: Supreme Court rejects the appeal and upholds the High Court judgment.
June 28, 2002: Election Commission issues orders to implement the Supreme Court judgment.
July 08, 2002: All party meeting decides to amend Representation of People Act to prevent/dilute the Supreme Court’s orders.
August 22, 2002: Cabinet sends Ordinance for amending the Representation of People Act, to President for signature.
August 23, 2002: President returns the Ordinance.
August 24, 2002: Cabinet sends the Ordinance to the President a second time, the President signs, in keeping with the convention.
October 2002: PILs filed in Supreme Court, including one by ADR, challenging the constitutional validity of the amendment to the Representation of People Act, done by above Ordinance.
March 13, 2003: Supreme Court declares above amendment of the Representation of People Act as “illegal, null and void” and restores its May 02, 2002 judgment.
March 27, 2003: Election Commission issues orders implementing the Supreme Court judgment.
2002-till date: First ADR, and now National Election Watch, conduct Election Watches in all Parliament and State Assembly elections, collecting copies of affidavits filed by candidates, and collating and summarizing the information given by candidate under oath.
Data for over 50,000 candidates, self-declared by the candidates themselves under the Supreme Court order, is now available.
2007: Files RTI applications before Election Commission and the Tax authorities seeking information whether Political Parties file their contribution reports as per Sec 29(A) of RPA (Representation of Peoples’ Act) 1951 to get tax benefits under Sec 13A of Income Tax Act, 1961
21 Jun 2007: EC response contains details on 21 parties’s contribution report. Many parties are listed for not submitting the reports ever. Tax Authorites refuse to divulge the information
2008: CIC on 2nd appeal allows tax returns of political parties to be made public and directs the authorities to furnish copies of the IT returns of the parties to public
2008: Scrutiny of copies of the return revelas that all the parties have availed benefit under Sec 13 A of the Income Tax Act, even those who have not filed their statutorily mandated contribution reports before Election Commission.
2008: Files a PIL in Supreme Court to issue order to conduct an inquiry to examine all defaulting parties whom have been given benefit of section 13A of Income Tax Act and to take appropriate action against the defaulting political parties to recover the income tax due from them from the date of default till date
Nov, 14 2008: Supreme court sets the PIL aside saying that the time is not appropriate to take up the PIL.
Jan 2009: Discussion with network partners to strategize on next steps.
To further our efforts in these areas, we will work with the Government, Courts, the Election Commission, Political Parties, Elected Representatives, Candidates contesting elections, the Press, Media, Citizens and other Organizations.
