On Monday, the government-run State Bank of India (SBI) requested additional time from the Indian Supreme Court. The request aims to delay the release of the identities of individuals and businesses that contributed billions of rupees to political parties through a murky funding mechanism.
On February 15, the court declared the seven-year-old election funding scheme “unconstitutional” and abolished it. Consequently, political parties are now permitted to receive limitless, anonymous payments.
Anticipated in April or May, the ruling comes as a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has benefited the most from the 2017 system.
By March 6, SBI was to share the names, beneficiaries, and sums of the donations with the independent Election Commission of India (ECI). Subsequently, the poll panel was expected to make the information public by March 13.
However, SBI filed a plea on March 4 asking for an extension until June 30, the day the elections would be finished. The motion stated that the information the court requested was divided into several categories. Additionally, it mentioned that it would take time to combine and match the 22,217 donation-related data.
On Monday, in response to the request, the court stated that SBI should provide the information with the ECI “by close of business” on Tuesday. This is because the information is easily accessible with the bank.
Days before the anticipated general elections, the five-judge court ordered the ECI to gather the data and publish the specifics by 5 p.m. on March 15. Consequently, it was expected that the information would be made available to the public in a timely manner.
Leading the bench was Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. “We place SBI on notice that we might be inclined to proceed on wilful disobedience of court order if it does not comply with the timeline given today,” the bench stated.
“Our directions require SBI to disclose information which is already available,” Chandrachud stated. “We have not told you to do the matching exercise … simply comply with the judgment. You have the details.”
Contesting the election funding scheme known as Electoral Bonds, opposition politicians and a civil society organization argued that it impeded the public’s right to know who was sponsoring political parties. Consequently, they raised concerns about the transparency of the process.
A person or business could purchase bonds from SBI under the current arrangement and give them to a political party.
Up to November 2023, people and businesses purchased 165.18 billion rupees ($2 billion) worth of these bonds, as reported by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental civil society organization that works on financing elections in India. During this period, the ADR provided insights into the substantial investment in these bonds. The group was a system-challenging petitioner.
The court judgment on Monday elicited no instant response from the administration or the BJP. On February 15, the BJP declared its commitment to following the court’s decision to eliminate the bonds, and concurrently, it expressed dedication to transforming election financing.
Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the main opposition Congress party, wrote on X that “the Supreme Court’s decision is a victory for transparency, accountability, and level playing field in democracy.”
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