Electoral Bonds: SBI Not Disclosed Numbers of Electoral Bonds, Says Supreme Court; Next Hearing on March 18

The Supreme Court of India criticized the State Bank of India (SBI) for not disclosing the unique numbers of the electoral bonds, which it had to do. The court issued a notice to the SBI and asked them to give numbers by tomorrow. The next hearing is on Monday (March 18). This comes after the Election Commission of India requested the apex court to return the Electoral Bonds’ documents handed over by it to the top court in sealed cover on two occasions.

"One thing. Who is appearing for the SBI? They have not disclosed the bond numbers. It has to be disclosed by the State Bank of India," said Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. He further said that the State Bank of India has to publish all details.

Electoral Bonds: Supreme Court says SBI has not disclosed the numbers of the electoral bonds, which it had to do https://t.co/s5Jfkv8J1f

— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2024

The bench directed the Registrar Judicial to ensure that the data filed by the ECI is scanned and digitised by 5 PM tomorrow. Once this is complete, the originals shall be returned to the ECI. A copy of the scanned and digitised files shall also be made available to the ECI.  ECI shall then upload the data to its website, as reported by Live Law.

The court came down hard on SBI, striking down the scheme and directing the bank to share all the details of the donations made by the political parties in the last five years.

On Thursday (March 14), the poll panel uploaded details of electoral bonds submitted by the State Bank of India in two parts. The first part includes the name of the purchaser of the electoral bond, date, and denomination. The second list has the date of encashment, name of the political party and denomination.

The Election Commission issued a press note on Thursday and referred to the directions of the Supreme Court while putting out the electoral bond data.