‘Come to protect Indian democracy’: Congress hails SC dismissal of SBI plea on EBs

The Congress has welcomed the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the SBI’s plea seeking more time to furnish details of electoral bonds, saying that the apex court has once again come to protect democracy from the “devious machinations” of the BJP government.

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Monday (March 11) dismissed the State Bank of India’s (SBI) plea for time extension and directed it to furnish the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by the close of business hours on March 12.

Venugopal’s post

In a post on X, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal wrote, “The Supreme Court has once again come to protect Indian democracy from the devious machinations of this regime.

“It was laughable for the SBI to seek an extension on a simple 1 day job. The fact is that the government is scared of all their skeletons tumbling out of the closet.

“This mega corruption scandal, as certified by the Supreme Court, will expose the unholy nexus between the BJP and its corrupt corporate masters.”

Salve’s argument

During the hearing, the Bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, took note of the submissions of senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the SBI, that more time was needed for collating the details and matching them as the information was kept in two different silos with its branches.

He claimed that even if the matching exercise was to be done away with, the SBI could complete the exercise within three weeks.

The Bench said it had not directed the bank to match the details of donors and donee with other information. The SBI has to just open the sealed cover, collate the details, and pass on the information to the Election Commission, the apex court said.

Court asks SBI about steps taken

It also asked the bank about the steps it has taken to comply with the apex court’s directions in its February 15 judgment. “In the last 26 days, what steps have you taken? Your application is silent on that,” the Bench said.

In a landmark verdict delivered on February 15, a five-judge Constitution Bench scrapped the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordered the Election Commission to disclose the details of donors, the amounts they donated, and to which party by March 13.

The SBI had sought an extension till June 30 to disclose the details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties before the scheme was scrapped.

(With agency inputs)