On Friday, Bharat’s Supreme Court pulled up the State Bank of India (SBI) in the electoral bonds case for not disclosing details like bond numbers, date of purchase, name of purchaser, and the date of purchase/redemption to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
It issued a notice to the state-run bank seeking full details. The alphanumeric code printed on each electoral bond would have helped match donors with political parties, but was not shared by SBI after an earlier court order to make the information public on electoral bonds.
The ECI had published the data – as shared by SBI – on its website late Thursday. “Judgment of the Constitution Bench required the SBI to furnish to the ECI all details of the electoral bonds and redeemed, including the date of purchase, name of purchaser, and the date of purchase/redemption,” said the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday.
The CJI added, “It is submitted that SBI has not disclosed the unique alpha numeric number of the electoral bonds. SG submits that notice may be issued to the SBI”.
The apex court ordered, ‘We direct the issue of notice to the SBI returnable by Monday’.
The bench of Chief Justice Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra reconvened today to hear an application filed by the Election Commission.
In its application, the ECI sought the return of sealed cover documents furnished by the commission to the court in adherence to its interim order.
The top court noted while hearing the EC plea that the data provided by SBI was ‘incomplete’. The CJI also asked who appeared in the court on behalf of the SBI.
“Who is appearing for the State Bank of India? They have not disclosed the bond numbers. It has to be disclosed by the State Bank of India,” said the CJI.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also urged the court to issue a notice to SBI as he emphasised the bank must have something to say over the matter but was not a party to Friday’s hearing.
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