SBI Submits Electoral Bond Data With Election Commission of India

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday submitted details of electoral bonds to Election Commission. This comes a day after the top court rejected the lender's plea seeking an extension of deadline to disclose details of electoral bonds.

The Apex Court had directed the SBI to disclose details regarding electoral bonds on March 12.

In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court's five-judge bench had earlier declared the electoral bond scheme as 'unconstitutional', putting an end to the controversial practice of anonymous political funding on February 15.

SBI, being the sole authorized financial institution under the electoral bond scheme, was ordered to submit details of electoral bonds purchased since April 12, 2019, by March 6 to the Election Commission.

Despite SBI's request for an extension, the apex court dismissed the plea and instructed the bank to disclose the electoral bond details to the Election Commission by the end of business hours on March 12.

The bank cited the complexity of retrieving information from various sources and matching it as a time-consuming process. However, the court emphasized that the plea did not address the steps taken to comply with its directives.

Opposition leaders in India welcomed the Supreme Court's decision, criticizing the government for its timing of implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on March 11, which they viewed as an attempt to divert attention from the electoral bond scheme.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge stated in a post in Hindi on 'X' that the Supreme Court's ruling would reveal the donors to the BJP through electoral bonds, marking the first step in uncovering corruption and scandals within the Modi government.