SBI urges Supreme Court to extend deadline for furnishing data on electoral bonds

The Supreme Court in a historic judgment last month had struck down the electoral bonds scheme and told SBI to give the information to the Election Commission (EC) by March 6.  

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday urged the Supreme Court to extend the deadline till June 30 to provide information regarding electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI). In the wake of the top court's historic ruling invalidating the electoral bonds program, the first deadline for SBI to provide the Election Commission with all pertinent data was set for March 6, 2024.

But the central bank has requested more time to follow the court's orders, noting the difficulty of the current work.

Prior to the judgment date on February 15, 2024, the Supreme Court had ordered the SBI to provide the donor information, ranging from the interim order on April 12, 2019. During this time frame, a sizable quantity of electoral bonds—22,217—were used to fund donations to different political parties.

What did the Supreme Court verdict said?

The apex court had also ordered SBI to disclose to the Election Commission the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme. A five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud ordered the SBI to release information on every electoral bond that political parties have redeemed, including the bond's amount and the date of encashment. By March 6, the SBI had to provide the poll panel with the information.

The court ordered SBI to provide information on electoral bond donations as well as information about the political parties that received them by March 6. The bench also stated that by March 13, the Election Commission shall post the data that SBI submitted on its official website.

The electoral bonds scheme was introduced in 2018 with the stated objective of blocking black money from entering the political system.