The Supreme Court today 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 supressed any details. It has also asked the Election Commission to upload the details given by the SBI on its website.
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 today.
“Every bit of information should come out. All details should come out. We want to ensure that nothing has been suppressed,” CJI Chandrachud added.
Source link: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/should-sbi-disclose-all-details-on-electoral-bonds-supreme-court-to-decide-5260204