The Supreme Court has ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to share details of the electoral bonds scheme with the Election Commission of India (ECI) by tomorrow. The court said that the information should be published on the ECI's website by 5 pm on Friday. If the bank fails to provide the information by tomorrow, the court warned that it will initiate contempt proceedings against the bank.
The SBI had requested more time to disclose the details of the electoral bonds scheme, which was scrapped by a landmark verdict of the Supreme Court on February 15. The court had directed the Election Commission to make the donation details public by March 13. However, the SBI sought an extension until June 30 to provide the information.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), one of the petitioners challenging the electoral bonds scheme, opposed SBI's plea for more time. ADR argued that the application was filed at the last moment to prevent the details from becoming public before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve, representing SBI, stated that the bank had followed a standard operating procedure to store information about the electoral bonds scheme outside the core banking system. He mentioned that more time was needed to comply with the court's order as the bank had to reverse the entire process. Salve also highlighted that the bank was instructed to keep the information secret.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice Sanjiv Khanna emphasized the importance of providing the information promptly. They noted that the donor details were kept in a sealed cover in a Mumbai branch of the bank and urged SBI to collate the details and provide them to the Election Commission.
In response, Salve assured the court that he had full details of the purchasers of the bonds and the source of the funds. He mentioned that the names of the purchasers needed to be collated and crosschecked with the bond numbers before being disclosed.
