The Supreme Court on Monday instructed the State Bank of India (SBI) to hand over electoral bond details to the Election Commission (EC) by tomorrow, March 12. Rejecting the bank's appeal for more time, the five-judge bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud sharply reprimanded SBI, questioning their inaction over the past 26 days following the instructions issued on February 15. SBI's defense hinged on coding electoral donations, citing time requirements for decoding and concerns around confidentiality. However, the court dismissed these arguments outright.
The court stated that the reasons provided by SBI for seeking an extension did not align with the guidelines laid out by the judiciary. A clear indication emerged from the petitioner's arguments that the information is 'readily available.' The highest court has ordered SBI to disclose details by the end of business hours on March 12, 2024. Following this, the EC will compile the information and publish the details on the official website by 5 PM on March 15, 2024.
Harish Salve, representing SBI in court, assured that the bank holds the details, stressing the need to maintain secrecy as per their system. Previously, SBI requested more time, explaining that decrypting and compiling information related to 22,217 electoral bonds sold requires careful processing to avoid any legal complications.
What the Supreme Court stated on February 15:
In a landmark decision on February 15, the Supreme Court deemed the electoral bond scheme unconstitutional and nullified it. It ordered SBI to present details of all electoral bonds purchased since April 12, 2019, before the EC by March 6 and directed the EC to publish this information on its website by March 13. Despite this, SBI approached the apex court on March 4, seeking an extension until June 30 to disclose the particulars.
