New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose all details related to electoral bonds, which allowed individuals and companies to make donations to political parties.
A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, also directed the SBI to disclose the electoral bond numbers, a key security feature of the electoral bonds.
“We want all information related to the electoral bonds to be disclosed which is in your possession,” said CJI Chandrachud while hearing a petition against the “incomplete data” provided by the SBI on the donations made to political parties through electoral bonds.
The court also directed the SBI Chairman to file an affidavit by 5 pm on Thursday, stating it has not suppressed any details.
The court had struck down the scheme and directed the bank to share all details on the donations made in the last five years. The Supreme Court had earlier sent a notice to SBI saying that the data provided on electoral bonds was incomplete.
“The SBI’s attitude seems to be ‘you tell us what to disclose, we will disclose’. That does not seem to be fair. When we say “all details”, it includes all conceivable data,” the CJI said on Monday.
“Every bit of information should come out. All details should come out. We want to ensure that nothing has been suppressed,” CJI Chandrachud added.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday uploaded additional data regarding electoral bonds, including party-wise details on amount redeemed as well as corresponding bank account information.
These details are believed to be for the period before April 12, 2019. Electoral bond details after this date was made public by the EC last week.
Key points from new data:
• As per the new details, the BJP en cashed electoral bonds totalling Rs 6,986.5 crore; maximum Rs 2,555 crore received in 2019-20
• Trinamool Congress received Rs 1,397 crore through electoral bonds, second largest recipient after BJP.
• YSR Congress en cashed bonds worth Rs 442.8 crore
• Congress redeemed a total of Rs 1,334.35 crore through electoral bonds
• TDP en cashed bonds worth Rs 181.35 crore
• DMK received Rs 656.5 crore through electoral bonds, including Rs 509 crore from lottery king Santiago Martin’s Future Gaming. This accounts for 83% of DMK’s total income from poll bonds.
• BJD en cashed electoral bonds worth Rs 944.5 crore
• BRS fourth largest recipient through electoral bonds, en cashed bonds worth Rs 1,322 crore
• Samajwadi Party got Rs 14.05 crore via electoral bonds, Akali Dal Rs 7.26 crore, AIADMK Rs 6.05 crore, National Conference Rs 50 lakh
• The CPI(M) has declared that it will not receive funds through electoral bonds, while filings made by the AIMIM and BSP showed nil receipts
• Shiv Sena redeemed bonds worth Rs 60.4 crore and RJD 56 crore
• The JD(S) received bonds worth Rs 89.75 crore, including Rs 50 crore from Megha Engineering, the second largest purchaser of electoral bonds
• Future Gaming of lottery king Santiago Martin was the biggest purchaser of electoral bonds at Rs 1,368 crore, of which nearly 37% went to the DMK.
