The Supreme Court declined to entertain requests from major industry associations to postpone the disclosure of electoral bond numbers, a move that would facilitate linking donors to political parties.
Despite a separate order directing the chairman and managing director of the State Bank of India (SBI) to submit an affidavit by March 21, confirming the disclosure of all electoral bond details, the court refused to hear the industry bodies’ pleas.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud pointed out that the industry bodies had approached the court after the judgment had already been delivered and emphasized that there were no applications on record to consider their requests.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) had sought a delay in releasing the alphanumeric electoral bond numbers.
However, the court stated that the industry bodies could not be given priority over other applicants and their requests were not listed for immediate hearing. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the industry bodies, urged for a brief hearing, but the court declined.
A five-judge bench led by the CJI instructed the SBI to provide all details, including the alphanumeric bond numbers, by March 21, starting from April 2019 when the court invalidated the electoral bond scheme. The Election Commission of India (ECI) was directed to upload these details.
The CJI emphasized that the SBI must furnish all available details, including alphanumeric and serial numbers of the bonds purchased. To ensure transparency, the bank’s chairperson was instructed to file an affidavit by 5 pm on March 21, confirming that all details had been disclosed.
The Supreme Court had previously ruled on February 15 that electoral bonds were unconstitutional, citing the non-disclosure of funding information for political parties as a violation of citizens’ right to information. The court directed the SBI to provide all relevant data.
On March 4, the SBI requested an extension until June 30 to disclose the details, which was denied by the court. The bank was instructed to share all information with the EC by March 12, and the EC was ordered to publish the details by March 15, which it complied with ahead of schedule.
On March 17, the EC released further information on electoral bonds, including the amount redeemed by each political party, following the apex court’s directive to return all details submitted in a sealed cover back to the EC. The EC had originally provided this information to the court in November.
