SC confronts SBI over not revealing the concealed numbers on poll bonds; hearing on Mar 18

The Supreme Court of India questioned the State Bank of India on Friday, sending the state-owned bank another letter demanding an explanation for withholding the data from the poll panel in defiance of the court’s instructions. The notification pertained to the bank’s failure to provide the electoral bonds’ concealed alphanumeric codes.

The State Bank of India (SBI) was instructed by the Supreme Court’s constitution bench on February 15 to provide the Election Commission (EC) with all information regarding the 22,217 electoral bonds, including the date of purchase, the name of the purchaser, the denomination, and the date and denomination of the bonds’ redemption by the various political parties.

Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud led a five-judge Constitution bench that also included Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra. The bench directed the State Bank of India to disclose all information pertaining to Election Bonds, with effect from February 15, 2024. The bench stated, “Really speaking we can take exception to what they (SBI) have disclosed, They were duty bound to.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal read out the directives given by the Constitution bench on February 15 and said that “it is an inclusive order,” as the court indicated that the publication of information pertaining to the Electoral Bonds also includes the revelation of the alphanumeric codes of each bond.

Sibal informed the judge after reading the decision, “It is an inclusive order that also includes the disclosure of the hidden alphanumeric numbers.”

The court scheduled a follow-up hearing on Monday, March 18, after notifying the State Bank of India. The warning was given to the attorney representing the SBI before the Supreme Court by the court’s registry.

In accordance with an interim order issued by the court on April 14, 2019, the Registrar (Judicial) of the court was also directed to give the Election Commission of India access to the “original” papers containing information on electoral bonds that were bought by private companies and redeemed by different political parties. These papers were submitted to the top court in a sealed cover.

The bench did state that the register will save digitally and scanned copies of the original data that the poll panel sent to the highest court. In order to prevent the Election Commission from duplicating the process on their end, the court ordered its registry to provide the scanned and digitalized copies of the data to them upon request from the poll panel’s counsel.

The court ordered the ECI to post the data on its website by March 17, 2023, and granted its registry until 5:00 p.m. on March 16 to scan and digitize the information.

The Election Commission of India filed an application with the Supreme Court claiming that it had not kept copies of the information on the Election Bonds that the political parties had received and paid that had been provided to the court in compliance with the interim decision of April 14, 2019.

The State Bank of India was ordered to provide all information pertaining to the bonds to the Election Commission of India by Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at the latest, after the Supreme Court rejected the bank’s request for an extension of time until June 30, 2024, to comply with its order dated February 15, 2024.

The Supreme Court ordered the SBI to provide the Election Commission with all information pertaining to 22, 217 Electoral Bonds by March 6, 2024, in its ruling dated February 15, 2024.

Additionally, the Election Commission was ordered by the court to post the material on its website by March 15 at 5:00 p.m.

The Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bond (EB) scheme on February 15, 2024, ruling that it was unconstitutional and arbitrary, along with the amendments made to the Representation of People Act, the Income Tax Act, the Companies Act, and the 2017 Finance Act to facilitate the scheme. This historic ruling came as a shock to the ruling establishment.

The Electoral Bond Scheme, the provision to Section 29C (1) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 (as amended by Section 137 of Finance Act 2017), Section 182(3) of the Companies Act (as amended by Section 154 of the Finance Act 2017), and Section 13A(b) (as amended by Section 11 of Finance Act 2017) are violative of Article 19(1)(a) and unconstitutional, a five-judge constitution bench ruled, striking down the EB that granted anonymity to corporations purchasing EBs and the political parties receiving them.The supreme court additionally ruled that it was arbitrary and in violation of Article 14 to “delete the provision to Section 182(1) of the Companies Act permitting unlimited corporate contributions to political parties.”