The largest lender in the country, State Bank of India (SBI), came under fire from the Supreme Court on Friday for neglecting to provide complete details on the electoral bonds scheme. Important connections between contributors and political groups were disclosed when the high court required the bank to submit all relevant information. Due to its lack of transparency, the electoral bond program, which let people and companies make anonymous donations to political parties, has drawn criticism.
In response to a plea submitted by the Election Commission, the supreme court ordered SBI to furnish the electoral bond numbers in addition to the information it had already disclosed. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and the five-judge panel stressed the significance of releasing all pertinent data about electoral bonds, which the court had earlier declared illegal.
The top court questioned SBI as to why it had not revealed the electoral bonds (unique alphanumeric numbers), citing the Constitution bench's ruling as clarification that all information pertaining to the bonds, including the denomination, date of purchase, and buyer's identity, will be made public.
Chief Justice Chandrachud noted the importance of this information and expressed unhappiness with SBI's refusal to release bond numbers. The SBI was ordered by the court to correct this omission and submit a thorough accounting of all electoral bond transactions over the previous five years. "Who's representing the State Bank of India here? The bond numbers have not been made public. Right at the beginning of the hearing, Chief Justice Chandrachud stated that the State Bank of India must reveal it.
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