Politics

Supreme Court Rebukes SBI in Electoral Bonds Case, Demands Full Disclosure by March 2

On Monday, the Supreme Court decided that the State Bank of India (SBI) could not withhold information from the public during the legal proceedings regarding SBI’s failure to provide the Election Commission with a unique number of electoral bonds. The SBI was instructed by the top court to submit an affidavit by 5:00 pm on March 21 certifying that all of the bank’s data had been released. According to the court’s ruling, SBI cannot be selective and must reveal all “conceivable” electoral bond information that it has, including specific bond numbers that would reveal the relationship between the buyer and the receiving political party.

During the hearing, the bench, which was led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and included Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, expressed orally that “we had requested SBI to reveal all information, including the bond numbers.” “There is no question that SBI was obligated to reveal all information. We specify that this shall comprise the serial number, if applicable, and the alphanumeric number of the redeemed bonds,” the bench continued.

Senior attorney Harish Salve, representing SBI, said the Supreme Court that “we will give them” if the required amount of Election Bonds was to be distributed. The Center’s attorney general, Tushar Mehta, contended that the top court needed to be aware of how this ruling was being used outside of the court because the ultimate goal was to combat black money. “The court needs to know how the ruling from the Supreme Court is being implemented. Witch hunts have now spread to other levels, not just the federal government’s. Those in front of the court began doing press interviews and purposefully made the court look foolish. The Solicitor General stated, “A series of social media posts, at least meant to cause embarrassment, started.”

Also Read: Electoral Bonds Case Live Updates: Harish Salve Confirms ‘SBI will Provide Bond Numbers’

SBI’s senior lawyer, Harish Salve, told the Supreme Court that “we will give them” if Election Bonds were to be distributed in the appropriate quantity. Tushar Mehta, the attorney general for the Center, said that since fighting black money was the ultimate purpose, the top court should be aware of how this order was being applied outside of the court. The process by which the Supreme Court’s ruling is being implemented must be disclosed to the court.. The federal government is no longer the only institution where witch hunts have proliferated. The people in front of the court started giving press interviews and deliberately made the court appear ridiculous. According to the Solicitor General, “a series of social media posts, at least meant to cause embarrassment, started.”