SBI must comply with Supreme Court order on electoral bonds: CPI(M)

New Delhi [India], March 7 : The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday said that SBI's plea for more time to reveal the details of electoral bonds was an "obvious ploy" to ensure that these are not made public till the Lok Sabha elections are over and that this has been done under pressure from the Modi government.
In a statement, the party's politburo said the State Bank of India (SBI) has failed to provide all the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6 as directed by the Supreme Court in its judgment that declared electoral bonds as unconstitutional.
The court provided three weeks to SBI to furnish this information.
"Instead, on the eve of the deadline of March 6, the SBI approached the court asking for another 116 days to submit the details by June 30. This is an obvious ploy to ensure that the details of electoral bonds are not made public till the elections are over," the party said.
Urging the Supreme Court to ensure that the SBI submits all the details of the electoral bonds forthwith, the CPI-M said it is unbelievable that the public sector bank, whose operations are digitalized, cannot compile all the relevant details of electoral bonds in the few days given to it.
"The SBI could have taken this untenable stand only due to the pressure of the Modi government," the party said.
The politburo called upon party units to organize protests demanding that SBI should be asked to give the details of electoral bonds immediately.
Meanwhile, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has moved a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against the State Bank of India for not complying with the top court direction to disclose details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan for ADR mentioned the plea before a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and apprised the top court that State Bank of India has filed an application for extension which is likely to be listed on Monday.
Bhushan urged the top court to list ADR's plea along with SBI's application. CJI asked him to complete the pre-listing formalities and then they will consider listing it.
On March 15, the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court asked the SBI to furnish details of the political parties that received electoral bonds since April 12, 2019, and all the particulars received and submit them to the Election Commission of India by March 6. The top court held electoral bonds scheme is violative of Article 19(1)(a) and unconstitutional and struck down the scheme.
As the State Bank of India (SBI) missed the deadline to submit the details, it moved the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time till June 30 to submit details of Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India. SBI, in its application, said that it needs extra time to disclose details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties.
ADR has sought to initiate the contempt proceedings against SBI for not complying the court order and said that it has wilfully and deliberately disobeyed the judgment passed by the Constitution Bench of the top court, and the same not only negates the right to information of the citizens, but also wilfully undermines the authority of the apex court.
ADR, one of the petitioners in the matter, said that two days before the expiry of the stated deadline for State Bank of India (SBI) for submitting information concerning electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India, SBI has filed the application, which is mala fide and demonstrates a wilful and deliberate disobedience & defiance of the judgement passed by the Constitution Bench of the top court.
The contempt plea also stated that it is a clear attempt to undermine the authority of the apex court.
ADR submitted that the State Bank of India has deliberately filed the said application at the last moment in order to ensure that the details of donor and the amount of donations are not disclosed to the public before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "The said application neither discloses the progress made so far & steps taken to comply with the judgment dated February 15, 2024, nor it shows even part- compliance of the judgment passed by this Court," ADR said.
The apex court had said that ECI shall publish the details of electoral bonds on its official website by March 13.