SBI, on Monday, approached the Supreme Court requesting an extension until June 30, 2024, to furnish electoral bonds data.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the primary petitioner in the electoral bonds case, filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Thursday, seeking contempt proceedings against the State Bank of India (SBI). This move came three days after SBI requested an extension from the top court to provide data on electoral bonds.
SBI, on Monday, approached the Supreme Court requesting an extension until June 30, 2024, to furnish electoral bonds data. The bank cited the complexity of decoding the data due to stringent security protocols in place to protect donor information, necessitating more time. The original deadline for submission was March 6.
This development has drawn widespread attention and criticism. With the electoral bonds scheme already deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in a landmark decision on February 15, there is heightened scrutiny on the transparency and accountability of the process. The court had ruled that the scheme infringed upon fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of speech and expression, as well as the right to information.
Activists, political observers, and opposition parties have raised concerns about the timeline provided by SBI, emphasising that the data may not be revealed until after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections.
A five-judge Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, said that all political parties are integral units in the electoral process, underscoring the significance of transparency in the funding of political parties. In its verdict, the Supreme Court instructed SBI to disclose the names of contributors to the electoral bonds scheme to the Election Commission (EC). In accordance with the court”s directive, the State Bank of India (SBI) was mandated to divulge specifics of each electoral bond cashed by political parties, including the date of encashment and the denomination of the bonds.
Among the four petitioners challenging the electoral bond scheme were the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Congress leader Jaya Thakur, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and Common Cause. The petitioners argued that the anonymity of the electoral bonds affects the transparency of political funding. According to petitioners, the scheme also violated voters’ right to information.
The electoral bond system was introduced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 2018, as part of its efforts to curb the influence of black money in politics. The scheme was seen as a solution to replace cash donations and improve transparency in political funding. Under this scheme, bonds were to be purchased from the State Bank of India (SBI) to be donated to parties anonymously. Despite the technical anonymity of donors using electoral bonds, the fact that SBI is publicly owned raises concerns regarding potential access to its data by the ruling party.
Since its inception in 2018, a staggering 674,250 electoral bonds worth ₹28,531.5 crore have been printed by the India Security Press, Nashik, between 2019 and 2022. According to data from the Election Commission, the BJP received more than half of all electoral bonds purchased between 2018 and 2022. Disclosures by political parties reveal that the BJP received Rs. 5,270 crore out of a total of Rs. 9,208 crore, accounting for 57 per cent of total electoral bonds sold.
