Association for Democratic Reforms

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) was founded in 1999 by a group of professors from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) to improve governance and strengthen democracy. ADR spearheads National Election Watch, mobilizing state networks to analyze and disseminate background profiles, criminal cases, assets, and liabilities of election candidates.

ADR’s sustained public interest litigation led to landmark Supreme Court judgments making candidate disclosure mandatory (2002/2003), introducing the NOTA option (2013), and declaring the Electoral Bonds Scheme unconstitutional (2024). It regularly publishes reports on political donations, electoral trust funding, and assembly spending.