The supreme court has taken a stern stance against the bank of india-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW'>state bank of india (SBI) regarding the matter of electoral bonds. The court questioned why sbi did not provide the bond numbers to the Central election commission (CEC) as per their instructions. Consequently, the court has ordered sbi to submit an affidavit by the 21st of the month, providing all details, including the bond numbers, to the EC.
The issue arose because sbi, despite submitting information about the bonds to the CEC, did not disclose the alphanumeric numbers of the bonds. These numbers are crucial as they reveal which person or organization has donated the bonds to which political party. Another petition was filed in the supreme court highlighting this absence of bond numbers, leading the court to express impatience with SBI's behaviour, describing it as selective.
In response, the supreme court, led by Chief Justice Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, made it clear that all information related to the bonds should be disclosed without suppression. The sbi Chairman has been directed to file an affidavit by 5 pm next Thursday, confirming that the details of election bonds, including unique numbers, have been provided to the EC. Furthermore, the court instructed that these details should be uploaded onto the website of the election commission promptly upon receipt.
Meanwhile, the CEC disclosed that Rs. 8,718.5 crore had been donated to the bjp in the form of election bonds. Additionally, details of bonds converted into cash by political parties since the inception of the scheme in march 2018 have been revealed.
