SC Dismisses SBI's Application, Orders Bank To Disclose Data on Electoral Bonds by Tuesday

IANS 11 March 2024

Economy & Nation

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the application filed by the State Bank of India (SBI) seeking an extension of time, until 30th June, for making details of the encashed electoral bonds public.

Rejecting the application, a Constitution bench, headed by chief justice of India DY Chandrachud, ordered SBI to disclose the information by the close of business hours on Tuesday, 12th March.

“As regards the Election Commission of India, we direct that the ECI shall compile the information and publish the details on its official website no later than by 5 pm on 15 March 2024,” ordered the 5-judge bench, also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Padriwala and Manoj Misra.

In its order, the constitution bench noted that the electoral bonds scheme—which had been held unconstitutional on 15th February—itself mandated SBI to disclose information when demanded by a court.

"Our judgment was issued on 15th February. Today, it is 11 March 2024. In the last 26 days, what is the extent of matching done by you? The affidavit is silent on this. We expect a degree of candour from the State Bank of India," the CJI says. The Court's observation has exposed the hubris and defiance of SBI which seemed to be in a hurry to comply with the apex court's order. SBI had sought an extension till 30 June 2024, which was dismissed by the Court.

Common Cause, co-petitioners in the electoral bonds petition in 2017, says, "In a way, the Constitution Bench has called the bluff of SBI's legal team, which was using deception and diversionary tactics to stall a historic judgment. Today, the Court noted that the requisite information is sufficiently available with SBI and directed it to disclose it by the close of business hours of 12 March 2024. The bench further directed the ECI to compile the information and publish the details on its official website by 15 March 2024 by 5pm."

In an application on 4th March, the SBI said that 'decoding' of the electoral bonds and the matching of the donor to the donations is a complex and time-consuming exercise and the timeline of three weeks would not be sufficient for the entire exercise to be completed.

In a verdict delivered on 15 February 2024, the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds Scheme, 2018, as unconstitutional and ordered SBI to forthwith stop their issuance. It had asked SBI to submit details of the electoral bonds purchased since April 2019 to the Election Commission of India by 6th March for publication on the official website of the poll body.

"SBI must disclose details of each Electoral Bond encashed by political parties which shall include the date of encashment and the denomination of the Electoral Bond. SBI shall submit the above information to the ECI within three weeks from the date of this judgment, that is, by 6 March 2024," it had said

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