THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, March 18: The Supreme Court instructed the State Bank of India on Monday to provide full disclosure of all information concerning electoral bonds by March 21, including unique bond numbers revealing the connection between the purchaser and the political party receiving the bonds.
A constitutional bench consisting of five judges led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud affirmed that there is unequivocal clarity in the requirement for the State Bank of India to reveal comprehensive information regarding the bonds.
It ordered the chairman of SBI to submit an affidavit by 5 p.m. on March 21 confirming that the bank had revealed all the information.
SBI can’t be selective on details
The SBI cannot be selective, and it must reveal all “conceivable” electoral bond details in its possession, including unique bond numbers that would reveal the connections between the buyer and the recipient political party, the bench, which also included Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, noted during the hearing.
The bench added that the bank should not wait for more orders on this matter because the highest court has ordered the bank to disclose all bond data in its ruling in the electoral bonds issue.
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During the hearing, the bench orally stated, “We had asked all details to be disclosed by the SBI which includes electoral bond numbers as well. Let SBI not be selective in disclosure.”
The previous week, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the SBI, seeking an explanation for its failure to disclose unique alphanumeric numbers as directed. The court emphasized that the State Bank of India was obligated to reveal these numbers.
SBI quashed electoral bond scheme on Feb 15
On February 15, the electoral bond scheme was quashed and declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, citing constitutional violations of the right to information and the freedom of speech and expression.
In a landmark decision, it ordered the State Bank of India to provide the Election Commission with the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme along with the amount and the recipients’ names.
It mandated that the issuing bank cease issuing electoral bonds and that the State Bank of India provide the Election Commission with the details of all electoral bonds purchased since April 12, 2019.
