Your attitude is unacceptable, don’t cover up – CJI to SBI

• The Supreme Court slams ‘State Bank of India’ over electoral bonds once again

• SC orders to provide information about how much donation was given by whom and to which political party

New Delhi – The Supreme Court once again slammed the ‘State Bank of India’ on 18 ^th March over electoral bonds. Chief Justice Chandrachud said that SBI should not cover up. Bank’s attitude is unacceptable. At this time, the Court also directed to make public all the information about the electoral bonds by 21^st March, i.e. in the next 3 days. Along with this, it was also directed that the Election Commission should immediately publish this information on its website.

Supreme Court reprimands State Bank of India again for issues with electoral bonds; CJI admonishes ‘Your approach is incorrect, no more secrecy’ and orders disclosure of details regarding political party donations and their amounts.#ElectoralBondsCasepic.twitter.com/7nur3yNjFv

— Sanatan Prabhat (@SanatanPrabhat) March 18, 2024

1. In its 11 ^th March judgment, the Court had directed the bank to furnish full details of the bonds including the date of purchase, name and category of purchaser; but the bank did not disclose how much was donated by which donor to which political party. The Court said that they do not want selective information, but all the details. The Court asked why SBI did not disclose the information till now.

2. Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the SBI, said that we have followed the verdict as per our understanding. Some time was sought to disclose all the information; but the CJI expressed disapproval on that. The Court said, ‘SBI has not declared the bond numbers. Follow the directions of the Supreme Court and submit the unique number of the bonds i.e. Alpha Numeric Number.’ The Court also asked to file an affidavit stating, ‘We (SBI) have not concealed any information’.