Election bond numbers must be disclosed by SBI, and it cannot be selective: SC

The State Bank of India (SBI) must provide all “conceivable” electoral bond facts in its possession, including unique bond numbers that would reveal the relationship between the buyer and the receiving political party, according to a ruling by the Supreme Court on Monday.

Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud led a five-judge panel that ruled that the bank need not wait for further directions on this matter since the high court had ordered the bank to provide all bond data in its electoral bonds case ruling.

“We had requested that the SBI provide all information, including electoral bond numbers. During the hearing, the bench—which also included Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra—spoke orally: “Let SBI not be selective in disclosure.”

The nation’s biggest bank was sent with a notice by the highest court last week to provide an explanation for why the SBI had not disclosed the unique alphanumeric codes in accordance with its orders, stating that the SBI was “duty bound” to do so.

Election-related ties. a representational image.
Parties would rather conceal than reveal, according to the most recent electoral bond statistics.
The highest court issued an interim judgment on April 12, 2019, mandating that political parties provide to the EC, in a sealed cover, information on the donations they have received and plan to receive.

The highest court declared the Center’s electoral bonds program, which permitted anonymous political finance, “unconstitutional” in its historic ruling on February 15. It also mandated that the EC disclose the names of contributors, the amounts they contributed, and the beneficiaries by March 13.