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New Delhi: On Friday, The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the State Bank of India (SBI) for not disclosing electoral bond numbers and thereby not fully complying with its previous judgment. While hearing the matter, the top court issued a notice to the SBI and sought a response by March 18.
The court stated that the judgment of the Constitution bench clarified that all details of electoral bonds will be made available including the date of purchase, name of purchaser, and the denomination. The top court categorically stated that electoral bond numbers, which link donors to recipients, “has to be disclosed” by the lender.
The SBI’s counsel was not present in court today. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said,”We had said all details had to be handed over to Election Commission (EC). They [SBI] have not disclosed the bond numbers. It has to be disclosed by the State Bank of India.”
During the hearing, the bench, also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, took note of the submissions made by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who appeared in the matter on behalf of the petitioner, that the alpha-numeric numbers of the electoral bonds have not been disclosed by the SBI. The observation came while the Supreme Court was hearing an application filed by the EC seeking modification of its March 11 order where it had dismissed the SBI’s plea seeking an extension till June 30 to submit the data on electoral bonds.
The EC had asked the top court to return the electoral bonds data it had previously submitted in sealed covers, claiming that it cannot publish the said information on its website until the sealed envelopes are returned. On Thursday evening, the Election Commission of India (ECI) made data on electoral bonds public shared by the State Bank of India. The data has been shared by the poll body in two parts on its website.
The poll body said it passed on to the court the data submitted by political parties regarding the encashed bonds without retaining copies. The court today directed the judicial registrar to ensure that documents filed by the EC before it in sealed cover are scanned and digitised before being returned. It said this be preferably carried out by 5 PM on Saturday, March 16.
