look news india
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has refused to give more time to State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose details of electoral bonds to fund political parties. Also, orders have been given to submit all the information to the Election Commission by Tuesday. The Election Commission has been asked to disclose this data on its website by Friday. Earlier time was given till March 6 but SBI asked for time till June i.e. after Lok Sabha elections to disclose the details. However, the Supreme Court has rejected all these arguments. Due to which the figures of electoral bonds will be revealed before the Lok Sabha elections and the secret donations received by political parties will be known.
On February 15, the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict and canceled the electoral bonds. Various political parties including BJP and Congress used to receive secret donations through electoral bonds. This was a donation whose details were not available to anyone except SBI and the recipient parties. The Supreme Court canceled the electoral bonds, terming them unconstitutional. Also, SBI was ordered to hand over all the information to the Election Commission by March 6. But SBI appealed to the Supreme Court that the data cannot be disclosed yet, hence time should be given till the month of June. Against this appeal of SBI, a contempt of court appeal was filed by ADR, the original petitioner organization against electoral bonds. The Supreme Court heard both these petitions on Monday. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud rejected SBI's plea and ordered that SBI submit all the details to the Election Commission by Tuesday, after which the Election Commission will upload these details on its website by Friday. Will publish on. Justices Sanjeev Khanna, BR Gavi, J. B. Taking a dig at SBI, the bench of Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra asked that we had given the verdict on 15th February, today (Monday) has become 11th March, what did you do for 26 days? It is clear that nothing has been done. There is no description in your application of what you did during these days. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for SBI, argued that the details were being collected from bank branches. Along with this, the details of both the donor and the recipient also have to be matched.
In response to which Chief Justice Chandrachud said that we had not asked you to match the details of both and give the data. Give the figures in the state to the Election Commission by Tuesday. SBI already has all the information in two sections, now the bank just has to open its closed cover. It is mandatory to follow the Know Your Customer (KYC) process for purchasing electoral bonds. So it is natural that the bank will have different KYC information for each buyer. Justice Khanna said that you simply open the sealed envelope, collect the information and share it with the public. We had hoped that SBI would have resolved this matter. But nothing has been done in the last 26 days. If this kind of attitude is adopted then we will take action against the bank.
Timeline from bond execution to collapse
* 2017: Central government announced electoral bonds in the Finance Bill
* September 2017: ADR organization filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the bond.
* October 2017: Supreme Court sent notice to Central Government, Election Commission
* January 2018: Central government issues notification for bonds and begins implementation
* November 2022: Center extends bond sale time from 70 to 85 days for greater benefit to parties.
* October 2023: Constitution bench of five judges starts hearing in Supreme Court
* November 2023: Supreme Court reserved the decision after completing the arguments.
* 15 February 2024: The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court gave its verdict and canceled the electoral bonds.
* March 2024: SBI appeals to Supreme Court for more time, ADR opposes it, SBI's plea rejected
Fund raising should be disclosed: Versus
Senior lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal welcomed the Supreme Court's decision. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that when SBI asked for four months' time, it became clear that the Modi government is trying to hide its dark deeds. With the decision of the Supreme Court, it will now become clear who has donated to BJP.
Kharge claimed that BJP is collecting donations as extortion by raiding ED, CBI, IT. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that Narendra Modi's donation business will open after the Supreme Court's decision.