Elections – Electoral Bonds – SBI directed to disclose details of each Electoral Bond encashed by political parties both in terms of the purchase and in terms of the receipt of contributions – Directions issued to State Bank of India and Election Commission of India
Held: A plain reading of paragraph 219 of Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors. [2024] 2 SCR
420 indicates that SBI was required to submit all details, both in terms of the purchase and in terms of the receipt of contributions – The expression “include” in both subparagraphs “b” and “c” of paragraph 219 demonstrate that the inclusive part is illustrative and not exhaustive of the nature of the disclosure which is to be made by SBI – SBI is required to make a complete disclosure of all details in its possession – This will also comprehend the alphanumeric number and serial number of the Electoral Bonds which were purchased and redeemed – Chairman and Managing Director of SBI directed to submit the details to the Election Commission of India – Election Commission of India directed to upload the details forthwith on receipt of communication by SBI. [Paras 7, 8, 11, 12]
Elections – Electoral Bonds – Miscellaneous Application filed for pre-dating point of disclosure – Rejected as not maintainable
Held: Vide sub-paragraphs “b” and “c” of paragraph 219 of Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors. [2024] 2 SCR 420, the State Bank of India has been directed to furnish the details of Electoral Bonds purchased as well as the Political Parties which have received contributions through Electoral Bonds since the date of the interim order dated 12 April 2019 – Since the Miscellaneous Application filed by the Applicant sought for pre-dating of the point of disclosure, the same rejected as amounting to substantive modification of the judgment. [Paras 3,4]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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