Latest News :- The Supreme Court rejected the plea of State Bank of India (SBI) in which it had sought time till June 30 to submit details related to electoral bonds. SBI has given a deadline of one day to submit these details to the Election Commission by this evening. Last month, the Supreme Court had struck down the practice of political parties raising funds through electoral bonds, terming it illegal.
SBI Bank was directed to submit details related to the sale of electoral bonds from 2019 to the Election Commission by March 6. 'Collecting and classifying this information is a complex process. SBI had filed a petition in the Supreme Court on March 4, requesting time till June 30. After this, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding contempt of court action against SBI.
Meanwhile, the petition filed by SBI seeking additional time was heard before the bench of Chief Justice Chandrachud yesterday. At that time, the Chief Justice said, on February 15, we ordered the release of election bond details. What action have SBI officials taken in the last 26 days? Nothing was said about this.
Although electoral bonds are sold in various branches, all the information related to them is collected at the SBI head office in Mumbai. Therefore, compiling information from it is an easy task. He has already submitted some documents to the Election Commission in the court. Providing the details sought by us is not a difficult task for a big bank like SBI. SBI has completed such works on time in the past also. In such a situation, why seek time on the election bond issue?
We expect honest operations from SBI Bank. Now it is necessary to publish the details of the voter list. Collecting information in this ubiquitous Internet environment is not an impossible task. Appeal by a bank official against the decision passed by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court is a very serious matter and condemnable. Therefore, the claims made by SBI are rejected and the writ petition is dismissed.
SBI has to submit all the information related to electoral bond funds received by political parties to the Election Commission by the evening of March 12 (today). The Election Commission should upload and publish it on its website by March 15. Failure to provide details will result in contempt of court action against SBI officials. The Chief Justice said this in his order.
