Supreme Court Registry Gives Sealed Cover Electoral Bonds Data Back To Election Commission

Complying with the order of a five-judge Constitution bench, the Supreme Court registry on Saturday handed the electoral bonds data submitted by the Election Commission back to the body. The commission had requested for the documents, given in 2019 and 2023, to be given back so that it could publish them on its website in accordance with an earlier Supreme Court order.

Hearing the Election Commission's petition on Friday, which said it did not have copies of the documents it had submitted in the sealed cover, the Supreme Court had asked the registry to hand the papers back by 5 pm on Saturday after digitising them. The commission has, in turn, been told to publish them on its website by 5 pm on Sunday

In 2023, while hearing petitions on the validity of Electoral Bonds, the Supreme Court had asked for up-to-date information on funds received by political parties through the method till September. It had earlier sought the data in 2019.

It is not yet clear whether, once this data is published, it will shed any new light on the donations, given that the information provided by the State Bank of India was uploaded on the EC's website on Thursday.

In the hearing on Friday, the Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, had also rapped the State Bank of India for not submitting the electoral bond numbers, which would help connect the two lists of donors and recipients. 

"Who is appearing for the State Bank of India? They have not disclosed the bond numbers. It has to be disclosed by the State Bank of India," Chief Justice Chandrachud said when the hearing began. 

The bench asked the bank to explain the lapse during the next hearing on Monday.