ADR came into existence in 1999 when a group of Professors from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad [3] filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the Delhi High Court regarding the disclosure of the criminal, financial, and educational background of the candidates contesting elections.

The objective of ADR is to improve governance and strengthen democracy through continuous work in the area of Electoral and Political Reforms.

[11] They focus on: - Corruption and Criminalization in the Political Process - Empowerment of the electorate through greater dissemination of information relating to the candidates and the parties, for a better and informed choice - Need for greater accountability of Indian Political Parties - Need for inner-party democracy and transparency in party-functioning Election Watch:[12] Election Watch is the flagship program of ADR.

In 2008, based on an appeal filed by ADR, the Central Information Commission (CIC) declared that the Income Tax Returns of political parties should be made available in the public domain by the IT Department.

[15] ADR has analyzed the IT returns of all National and Regional parties of India whose ITR details are available in the public domain, from FY 2002-03 till date.

An analysis of their Income Tax returns and donations statements filed with the Election Commission of India (ECI) shows that the sources remain largely unknown.