Electoral Bonds Case: In its ruling on Monday, March 18, the Supreme Court stated that it had requested that the State Bank of India (SBI) provide all relevant information, including the electoral bond numbers. The top court has mandated that SBI file its Chairman’s compliance affidavit by March 21 and provide the Election Commission of India (ECI) with all electoral bond number details. As soon as bond numbers are received, ECI will immediately upload the information to its website.
Supreme Court’s Stance on Information Disclosure
According to the SC, SBI shouldn’t withhold information. According to ANI, the top court has declared that it wants all information pertaining to the electoral bonds held by SBI to be made public. “We will say SBI shall disclose the bond numbers and also that you should file an affidavit stating that you have not suppressed any information,” Live Law quoted DY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), as saying.
“In our judgment, we have taken a conscious decision that the cut-off date should be date of interim order (April 12, 2019). We took that date because it was our considered view that once that interim order was pronounced, everybody was put on notice,” CJI Chandrachud added.
Assurance from SBI’s Senior Advocate
SBI’s Senior Advocate Harish Salve promised that the bank will handle it. “We will give every bit of information we have. SBI is not holding back any information we have,” he said. “It is just that the media is always behind us, with the petitioners saying they will take the SBI to task, haul them up in contempt,” Salve added.
Regarding electoral bonds, the Congress intensified its criticism of the Narendra Modi-led administration on March 18. According to PTI, the Grand Old Party has accused the Centre of hafta vasuli, or extortion.
Allegations Against 21 Companies
It states that 21 companies that have been the subject of inquiries by the Income Tax (I-T) department, Enforcement Directorate (ED), or Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) gave via electoral bonds. According to Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, new evidence of the “electoral bond scam’s” full scope is revealed every day.
“Today, we zoom in on the ‘Pradhan Mantri Hafta Vasuli Yojana’, the second of the four channels of corruption in the Electoral Bond Scam: 1.Chanda Do, Dhandha Lo 2.Hafta Vasuli (sic),” Ramesh posted on X (formerly Twitter).