Supreme Court asks pollsters to release electoral bond data by Friday

The court gave the pollster until Friday to make the data public on its website.

New Delhi:

Soon after the State Bank of India is expected to disclose the electoral bonds data, the Election Commission is likely to make the electoral bonds data public on its website. The Supreme Court today ordered the State Bank of India to submit details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by the end of business tomorrow. The court in turn gave the pollster until Friday (March 15) to make the data public on its website.

A five-judge Constitution bench posed tough questions to the SBI, which had unsuccessfully sought an extension to June 30 for details of electoral bonds. The court asked senior counsel Harish Salve, representing the bank, about the steps taken by the SBI to comply with its landmark February 15 order that abolished the anonymous political funding scheme.

“Mr. Salve, our judgment date is February 15, 2024. It is now March 11. To what extent have you matched in the past 26 days? What steps have you taken in the past 26 days? Apply for this Absolute silence,” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed SBI, the authorized financial institution under the scheme, to submit details of electoral bonds purchased from April 12, 2019 to date, to the Election Commission by March 6.

However, SBI moved the court two days before the deadline expired, seeking extension of time to comply with the directions till June 30. The SBI argued in its application that the process of retrieving information from “each silo” and matching information from one silo to another would be a time-consuming exercise.

Mr Salvi said the SBI could complete the work within three weeks if the matching exercise was cancelled.

“We are not telling you to conduct a matching exercise. We are asking you to conduct a simple disclosure,” the chief justice said.

“Even the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) shown to us during the hearing stated that for every purchase you have to have separate KYC (Know Your Customer),” the judge said, noting, “Therefore, To be very clear, every time someone makes a purchase, KYC must be done.”

The apex court also issued notice to SBI that it may initiate proceedings against the bank for “willful disobedience” to the February 15 judgment if it fails to comply with its instructions and timelines.