Congress MP from Sivaganga Karti Chidambaram on Monday said that the State Bank of India should not have filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the deadline to submit electoral bond data to the Election Commission of India (ECI). He added that he was happy the top court dismissed the plea.
The SBI filed a petition in the matter before the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the deadline till June 30. Hearing the plea, the top court pulled up the SBI for “wilful disobedience” while asking the public sector bank to disclose the details by the close of business hours on March 12.
Last month, the Supreme Court declared the electoral bonds scheme “unconstitutional” and directed the SBI to publish details of all electoral bonds by March 6. Commenting on the news development, Chidambaram said, “SBI should have never filed an application asking for an extension in time. I am glad that the Supreme Court has thrown out their application and asked them to make full disclosure by tomorrow.”
He added that people of India have a right to know about the people and/or companies that purchased the electoral bonds. The Congress MP further mentioned that people also have a right to know about the beneficiaries of electoral bonds and whether any quid pro quo has taken place.
“The people of India have a right to know who purchased the electoral bond, who are the beneficiaries and whether any quid pro quo has been given by the government to anyone who contributed to them,” Chidambaram junior said.
During the hearing, senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the SBI, noted the bank has all details on who purchased the bonds and it has details on where the money came from, and which political party tendered how much. “I have to also now put the names of purchasers. The names have to be collated, cross-checked with the bond numbers,” Salve argued.
The top court said the SBI only had to open the sealed cover, collate the details and give the information to the Election Commission. “It’s a serious matter when you come up with an extension like this. Our judgement was crystal clear… You are the number 1 bank in the country, we expect SBI to come forward and share details,” the SC said.