The Supreme Court delivered a third blow to the State Bank of India on Monday, ordering it to cease being “selective” and provide “complete disclosure” of all information pertaining to the electoral bonds scheme by March 21.
The supreme court ruled that information must be made public, including the distinct bond numbers that would identify the buyers and the recipient political parties.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud led a five-judge Constitution bench that declared there was “no manner of doubt that the SBI is required to make complete disclosure of all the details” that it possesses.
The bench, which also included Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, declared that the Election Commission would immediately post the information obtained from the SBI on its website.
A historic decision declared the programme “unconstitutional” by a five-judge constitution bench, which also mandated that the Election Commission reveal the names of donors, the sum of their contributions, and the recipients by March 13.
On March 11, the top court questioned the SBI in-depth about the actions taken to follow its orders after the agency failed to obtain an extension of time until June 30 to reveal details about electoral bonds.
The SC chastised SBI last Friday for providing insufficient information and sent the bank a notice demanding an explanation for withholding the unique alphanumeric numbers.
The bench took note of senior advocate Harish Salve’s submission on Monday, representing the State Bank of India. Salve stated that the bank has no qualms about disclosing all the information regarding the electoral bonds it owns.
“In order to fully effectuate the order and to obviate any controversy in the future, the chairman and managing director of SBI shall file an affidavit on or before 5 pm on Thursday (March 21) indicating that SBI has disclosed all details of the electoral bonds which were in its possession and custody and that no details have been withheld,” the court stated.
The bench demanded during the hearing that the SBI provide all relevant information regarding electoral bonds, including bond numbers.
“We had requested that the SBI reveal all information, including electoral bond numbers. Let SBI disclose information without bias,” the bench said verbally.
It stated that the bank should not wait for additional orders on this matter because the Supreme Court had ordered the bank to reveal all bond details in its ruling in the electoral bonds case.
