New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the State of Bank of India not to be "selective" while disclosing “all details” of the electoral bonds and directed the bank to submit all details to the Election Commission of India by Thursday, March 21.
The apex court asked the SBI chairman to file an affidavit by 5 pm on Thursday, stating it has not suppressed any details. The court directed the SBI to make complete disclosure of electoral bonds’ data including their unique hidden alphanumeric and serial numbers to the ECI for publication.
A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, said: “The SBI was expected to give every conceivable detail with it regarding the electoral bonds”.
The CJI told senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the SBI, that the court’s judgment makes it very clear that the bank has to share all details, which includes the bond numbers and SBI cannot be selective in disclosure of the details and every part of the information, regarding bonds, in its custody has to be disclosed.
“Do not wait for an order of the court...We bank on the fact that SBI will be candid and fair to the court”, said the CJI. Salve said the bank can disclose the bond numbers and there is no problem. “SBI's attitude seems to be 'you tell us to give particular details, then we will give'. That is not a fair process…when we say all details of the purchase then all conceivable details available with SBI,” CJI told Salve.
The bench said the judgement was clear that all details need to be disclosed, and the bank should not be selective. While Salve was making submissions, the CJI orally remarked, “Mr Salve, we take that you are not arguing the case for a political party, right?” Salve replied in negative and added that he is appearing for the SBI.
The bench stressed that SBI is duty bound to comply with the judgement of this court. Salve said if the numbers are to be given, the bank will provide it. The CJI queried in what format the SBI data regarding the bonds? Salve said in two silos.
“From your application it emerges there were three silos: one is the bond number, date of purchase, and the third is redemption”, said the CJI. Salve said the bond number is only on the bond, it cannot be read unless it is under a UV light, it was done for authentication, and it was entirely a security feature.
The CJI queried whether it was also for audit trail. Salve replied in negative and added that the audit trail is separate. “How does the redeeming branch match the electoral bond number to determine, it is not a forged bond…while redeeming it was alphanumeric to match”, queried the CJI. Salve said there is no matching.
Salve, justifying why the data provided by the SBI does not link the donors with their recipients, contended that the purchase and redemption data of electoral bonds were stored in two separate files since the bank was under the dictate of anonymity.
The CJI told Salve, “We clarify it to put it beyond any (doubt). We will say the SBI will not only disclose the bond number but it shall again file an affidavit before our court saying that you have not suppressed, withhold any detail (in connection with the electoral bond judgment)…disclose all details….the burden should not lie on the court or petitioner that this one is not disclosed…we must have finality to it”.
Salve stressed that the bank will provide all the details and the apex court judgement was not meant to give birth to PIL industry, which go after businessmen and say investigate this and investigate that, and “the idea is that voter should know. We will give the bond number, the voter knowing is one thing but this fodder for next years for PIL saying investigate so and so that is not the purpose of court’s judgment…..”. Salve said we will give the bond numbers and the judgment was for transparency and the right to know for the citizens
After a detailed hearing, the apex court directed the SBI to submit “all details” of electoral bonds to the Election Commission and also file its chairman's compliance affidavit by March 21.
The bench said that after the receipt of bond numbers, the Election Commission of India shall put out the details on its website forthwith. The apex court said that there is no manner of doubt that SBI was required to disclose all details regarding the electoral bonds, and it cleared that, the information in relation with bonds, will include the alphanumeric number and the serial number, if any, of the bonds, which were redeemed.
The apex court had earlier pulled up the SBI for not disclosing electoral bond numbers and thereby not fully complying with its previous judgment. It had categorically stated that electoral bond numbers, which link donors to recipients, "has to be disclosed".
On February 15, the top court, in a landmark verdict, had scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and ordered disclosure by the Election Commission of donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients by March 13.
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