Election Commission mum as deadline set by SC for SBI to share electoral bond details passes

In its application before the apex court, the SBI had contended that retrieval of information from 'each silo' and the procedure of matching the information of one silo to that of the other would be a time-consuming exercise.

New Delhi: The Election Commission has declined to make any comment even as the State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday did not share with the poll panel the details of the electoral bonds encashed by the political parties as directed by the Supreme Court.

The deadline set by the Supreme Court for the SBI to share the details of the electoral bonds encashed by the political parties with the EC passed on Wednesday, March 6. Asked if the SBI had complied with the order of the SC, a spokesperson of the EC said that he had no information or comment to offer on this issue. A source, however, said that the SBI had not shared any information about the electoral bonds encashed by the political parties with the EC till evening on Wednesday.

The SBI had on Monday moved the SC seeking an extension of time till June 30 to compile data about the electoral bonds encashed by the political parties and share the details with the EC.

The SBI’s plea has not yet been listed for hearing by the SC so far.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had struck down the electoral bonds scheme on February 15. The apex court had directed the SBI to disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by the political parties.

The SC had ordered that the information to be submitted to the EC by March 6 should include the date of encashment and the denomination of the bonds.

The apex court had also asked the EC to post on its website the information received from the SBI.

The SBI, however, knocked on the door of the SC again, arguing that it would need more time to compile the details.