Make complete disclosure by March 21: SC to SBI on electoral bonds

Last week SC issued notice to SBI

In a third tongue-lashing to the State Bank of India, the Supreme Court on Monday told it to stop being "selective" and make "complete disclosure" of all details related to the electoral bonds scheme by March 21. The apex court said the details to be disclosed include the unique bond numbers that would reveal the link between the buyers and the recipient political parties.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said there is "no manner of doubt that the SBI is required to make complete disclosure of all the details" which are in its possession.

The bench, also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice B R Gavai, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, said the EC shall forthwith upload on its website the details received from the SBI.

In a landmark verdict, a five-judge constitution bench had done away with the scheme, calling it "unconstitutional", and ordered disclosure by the Election Commission of donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients by March 13. On March 11, the SBI, which unsuccessfully sought an extension of time till June 30 to disclose electoral bonds details, faced searching questions from the top court which wanted to know about the steps taken to comply with its directions.

Last Friday, the SC admonished SBI for furnishing incomplete information and issued a notice to the bank to explain the reasons for the non-disclosure of unique alphanumeric numbers.

Mar 13
Day SBI had to disclose all data

Pradhan Mantri Hafta Vasuli Yojana: Congress

Stepping up its attack on the Centre, the Congress accused government of "hafta vasuli" (extortion) and claimed that a total of 21 firms which have faced investigations from the CBI, ED, or IT, have donated through electoral bonds. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that with each passing day, more examples emerge on the true depths of "electoral bond scam". "Today, we zoom in on the ‘Pradhan Mantri Hafta Vasuli Yojana', the second of the four channels of corruption in the Electoral Bond Scam: 1.Chanda Do, Dhandha Lo 2.Hafta Vasuli," Ramesh said in a post on X.

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