Electoral bonds: The Supreme Court on Monday (March 11) dismissed an application of the State Bank of India (SBI) seeking an extension of time till June 30 to submit details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India. The court also asked the SBI to disclose the details of electoral bonds by the close of business hours on March 12.
The apex court also pulled up the SBI over the delay in the disclosure of details about each electoral bond encashed by political parties. Furthermore, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to compile the information and publish the details on its official website no later than 5 pm on March 15.
The bench was also hearing a separate plea by the Association of Democratic Reforms and Common Cause, which has sought initiation of contempt action against the SBI alleging, it "wilfully and deliberately" disobeyed the apex court's direction to submit details of the contributions made to political parties through electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6.
Here's what court said
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the SBI to provide information on the steps taken to ensure the disclosure of details regarding electoral bonds encashed by political parties before the scheme was discontinued last month.
Senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for the SBI told the apex Court that the bank needs extra time to submit details of Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India. Salve said the only problem which the SBI has is, it is trying to reverse the whole process. The SOP made sure that there was no name of the purchaser in our core banking system and the bond number. We were told that this was supposed to be a secret.
"We have asked you to do plain disclosure as per our judgment. In the last 26 days, what steps have you taken? Your application is silent on that," the bench, also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, said.
The court said that the bank has to just open a sealed cover, collate details and give information to the Election Commission.
SBI's request for extension
The SBI, the authorised financial institution under the electoral bonds scheme, applied on March 4, seeking an extension until June 30 to disclose bond details encashed by political parties.
In its application to the Supreme Court, SBI argued that retrieving information from different sources and matching data would be a time-consuming process due to the complexity of the electoral bond system.
SBI emphasised that maintaining the anonymity of donors was a priority, leading to the segregation of data into separate "silos" for the issuance and redemption of electoral bonds.
"It submitted that the data related to the issuance of the bond and the data related to the redemption of the bond was kept recorded in two different silos. No central database was maintained. This was done to ensure that donors' anonymity would be protected," it said.
"It is submitted that donor details were kept in a sealed cover at the designated branches and all such sealed covers were deposited in the main branch of the applicant bank, which is located in Mumbai," it said.
ADR plea before top court
NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms and Common Cause filed a separate plea, urging the apex court to initiate contempt proceedings against the bank for alleged disobedience of the apex court's directives.
It claimed that SBI's application seeking an extension of time has been deliberately filed at the last moment to ensure that details of donor and the amount of donations are not disclosed to the public before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"It is submitted that the said application is mala fide and demonstrates a wilful and deliberate disobedience & defiance of the judgement passed by the constitution bench of this court.
It is further a clear attempt to undermine the authority of this court," it said.
"The petitioner herein is filing the instant petition seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against State Bank of India for wilfully and deliberately disobeying the order dated February 15 passed by this court … wherein this court directed SBI to submit details of the contribution made to the political parties through electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India by March 6," the contempt plea said.
It said as per clause 7 of the electoral bond scheme, the information furnished by the buyer can be disclosed when demanded by a competent court.
"As per clause 12 (4) of the scheme, electoral bonds have to be encashed within fifteen days failing which the amount of bonds not encashed are to be deposited by the bank to the PM relief Fund. Thus, it is inconceivable that SBI does not have the recorded information readily available within its data base," it said.
The plea said electoral bonds are "completely traceable" which is evident from the fact that SBI maintains a secret number-based record of donors who buy bonds and the political parties they donate to.
The contempt plea said any form of anonymity in the finances of political parties goes against the essence of participatory democracy and people's right to know enshrined under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
It said availability of information about electoral bonds will give voters a chance to truly inspect, express and decide their choices.
Landmark verdict on electoral bonds
In a landmark verdict delivered on February 15, a five-judge constitution bench scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and ordered disclosure by the Election Commission of the donors, the amount donated by them, and the recipients by March 13.
The top court subsequently directed the SBI, the authorised financial institution under the scheme, to submit by March 6 the details of the electoral bonds purchased from April 12, 2019, till date to the Election Commission, which was asked to publish the information on its official website by March 13.
(With agencies input)
Also Read: Electoral bonds row: Supreme Court to hear SBI's plea seeking extension on March 11
