1 By a judgment dated 15 February 20241, this Court declared the Electoral
Bond Scheme and the provisions of the Finance Act 2017 which amended the
provisions of the Representation of People Act 1951 and the Income Tax Act
1961, unconstitutional on the ground that the non-disclosure of information
regarding the funding of political parties is violative of the right to
information of citizens under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The
amendments which were introduced by the Finance Act 2017 to the
provisions of the Companies Act 2013, permitting unlimited funding of
political parties by corporate entities were held to be arbitrary and violative
of Article 14 of the Constitution.
2 In order to give full effect to the judgment which was rendered by the
Constitution Bench, this Court directed the State Bank of India2, which was
the authorized Bank to deal with Electoral Bonds under the Electoral Bond
Scheme to submit details of the Electoral Bonds purchased by the
contributors and redeemed by political parties between 12 April 2019 (the
date on which an interim order was passed by this Court directing the
Election Commission of India3 to collect details of the contributions) till 15
February 2024 (the date of the judgment).
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3 This Court directed the SBI to submit the following details by 6 March 2024 to
the ECI:
(a) Details of each Electoral Bond purchased including the date of
purchase, the name of the purchaser and the denomination of the
Electoral Bond; and
(b) Details of each Electoral Bond redeemed by political parties including
the date of encashment and the denomination of the Electoral Bond.
4 The ECI was directed to collate the information to be submitted by the SBI
and publish it on its website by 13 March 2024. The directions of this Court
are extracted below:
“219. In view of our discussion above, the following directions
are issued:
a. The issuing bank shall herewith stop the issuance of
Electoral Bonds;
b. SBI shall submit details of the Electoral Bonds purchased
since the Interim order of this Court dated 12 April 2019
till date to the ECI. The details shall include the date of
purchase of each Electoral Bond, the name of the
purchaser of the bond and the denomination of the
Electoral Bond purchased;
c. SBI shall submit the details of political parties which have
received contributions through Electoral Bonds since the
interim order of this Court dated 12 April 2019 till date to
the ECI. SBI must disclose details of each Electoral Bond
encashed by political parties which shall Include the date
of encashment and the denomination of the Electoral
Bond;
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d. SBI shall submit the above information to the ECI within
three weeks from the date of this judgment, that is, by 6
March 2024;
e. The ECI shall publish the information shared by the SBI on
Its official website within one week of the receipt of the
Information, that is, by 13 March 2024; and
f. Electoral Bonds which are within the validity period of
fifteen days but that which have not been encashed by
the political party yet shall be returned by the political
party or the purchaser depending on who is in possession
of the bond to the issuing bank. The Issuing bank, upon
the return of the valid bond, shall refund the amount to
the purchaser's account.”
5 The SBI filed a Miscellaneous Application before this Court two days before
the expiry of the deadline seeking an extension of time until 30 June 2024 for
complying with the directions. The petitioners before this Court – Association
for Democratic Reforms4 and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) -
instituted a petition invoking the contempt jurisdiction of this Court against
SBI for willful disobedience of the order of this Court.
6 In support of the application by the SBI, we have heard Mr Harish N Salve,
senior counsel. Mr Salve submitted that the information which was received
by the SBI was maintained in two separate silos and was maintained with the
utmost secrecy to fulfill the core purpose of the Electoral Bond Scheme. The
learned Senior counsel submitted that there is no difficulty in the disclosure
of information available in two separate silos which are referred to in (b) and
4 “ADR”
MA 486/2024
(c) of the operative directions. The counsel submitted that this exercise can
be completed within three weeks. However, it is submitted that the difficulty
of SBI arose since it construed the direction of this Court as requiring it to
carry out a matching exercise of the donor and bond details with the
corresponding details pertaining to encashment by political parties.
7 While evaluating the submission made on behalf of the SBI, a reference to
some of the key aspects of the Scheme would be in order at this stage.
Clause 7(4) of the Electoral Bond Scheme stipulates that the information
furnished by the buyer of an Electoral Bond shall be treated as confidential
by the authorized bank and shall be disclosed only when called upon to do so
by a competent court or upon the registration of an offence by a law
enforcement agency. Thus, in terms of the provisions of the Electoral Bond
Scheme itself, SBI is mandated to disclose information when demanded by a
court. What has to be analyzed is whether SBI is justified in seeking an
extension of time.
8 The SBI seeks an extension of time on the ground that the process of
“decoding the Electoral Bonds and matching the donor to the donations” is a
complex and time-consuming exercise. To substantiate this argument, the
SBI has averred that:
(a) Information is not available in a digital format: Clause 7.1.2 of the
Standard Operating Procedure regarding the sale and redemption of
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Electoral Bonds stipulates that “no details of bond purchaser including
KYC and other details will be entered in the core banking system.” Thus,
the details of the purchases of bonds are not available centrally;
(b) The donor details and the recipient details are available in two separate
silos: The details of the purchasers of Electoral Bonds were kept in a
sealed cover at the designated branch. These sealed covers were
deposited in the main branch of the SBI in Mumbai at the end of each
phase of the issuance of the Electoral Bonds. The information on the
redemption of Electoral Bonds (that is, the original bond and the pay-in
slip) were stored in a sealed cover and sent to the SBI, Mumbai Branch;
(c) Matching of information in the two silos is a time-consuming process:
The matching of the information on the purchase and redemption of
Electoral Bonds would be a time-consuming process since donor
information and redemption information is maintained in two separate
silos, independent of each other; and
(d) There is a large number of data sets to decipher: A total of 22,217
bonds were purchased between 12 April 2019 to 15 February 2024. This
would cumulatively add up to 44,434 data sets since there are two silos
of information. In other words, the compilation of this information would
be a time-consuming process because of the large number of data-sets.
MA 486/2024
9 The crux of the submission of the SBI is that the matching of information to
ascertain who contributed to which political party is a time-consuming
process since the information is maintained in two separate silos. The
operative directions of this Court directed the SBI to disclose the transactions
as set out in direction (b) and direction (c) extracted above. The SBI submits
in its application itself that the donor details and redemption details are
available, albeit in separate silos. In other words, the directions which have
been issued by this Court require the SBI to disclose the information which is
readily available with it.
10 At this stage, it would be material to refer to the FAQs on Electoral Bonds
published by the SBI which states that the ‘Know Your Customer’5 documents
must be submitted by the purchaser each time the Electoral Bond is
purchased, irrespective of whether the purchaser has a KYC verified SBI
account6. That is, one set of documents (the Electoral Bond application form,
KYC documents and pay-in slip) can only be used to purchase one Electoral
Bond7. Contributors who have an SBI account as well as those who do not
5 “KYC”
6 FAQ Question No. 16. I have an SBI Bank Account, Do I still need to Re-submit the KYC Documents? Yes. KYC norms will be applicable regardless of whether the applicant is an SBI account holder or a non-SBI account holder.
7 FAQ Question No. 45. Can I use more than one Instrument with one Electoral Bond Application Form? No. On single set Documents i.e. Electoral Bond Application Form, KYC Documents, Citizenship Documents and Pay-in slip for purchase of Electoral Bonds, Donor can use only one Instrument. In case Donor desires to use another Instrument, he/she has to submit another set of documents i.e. Electoral Bond Application Form, KYC Documents, Citizenship Documents and Payin slip to the Authorized SBI Branch.
MA 486/2024
have to submit the Electoral Bond application, KYC documentation and proof
of payment through NEFT, cheque or demand draft.8 Thus, the details of the
Electoral Bonds which have been purchased and which have been directed to
be disclosed by this Court are readily available.
11 Similarly, the FAQs on Electoral Bonds published by the SBI with respect to
redemption of Bonds states that each political party can open only one
current account for Electoral Bond redemption.9 The current account could be
8 FAQ Question No. 19: I am not maintaining account with any Branch of State Bank of India. How can I purchase Electoral Bond? Purchaser not maintaining account with State Bank of India can purchase Electoral Bond through a. Cheque / DD drawn in favour of the Authorized SBI Branch and payable at the local Clearing House.
Steps involved:
i. Purchaser submits the Electoral Bond Application Form alongwith pay-in-slip, Citizenship & KYC documents and Cheque/ DD at Authorized SBI Branch. The same need to be submitted at least three working days before the closure of the scheme, so that clear funds for issuance of Electoral Bonds, are available with the Authorized SBI Branch. In case of payment through DD, a confirmation letter from the DD issuance Branch on the prescribed format should also be provided.
ii. The Cheque/ DD should be in favour of “State Bank of India A/c Electoral Bond Scheme -2018”
iii. Once the Citizenship and KYC documents are verified the instrument will be sent in clearing. Tear off portion of pay-in-slip will be handed over to the Applicant. iv. On the third working day the Purchaser/ Authorised Representative need to visit the Branch with the tear off portion of pay-in-slip and collect the EB from the Branch against acknowledgment.
9 FAQ Question No. 4. For redemption of Electoral Bond, can a Political Party open Current Account with any Bank? No. The Current Account will be opened only in the presently 4 Authorized SBI
Branches as under:
(i) Chennai Main Branch (00800): 84, Rajaji Salai, Chennai – 600001
(ii) Kolkata Main Branch (00001):Samriddhi Bhawan, 1, Strand Road, Kolkata –700001
MA 486/2024
opened by the political party only in twenty-nine designated branches all
over the country. Thus, information about a political party’s encashment of
Electoral Bonds would only be stored in these branches which would be
clearly accessible. The authorized branches must submit the pay-in-slip and
other details to the main branch. There is no dispute about the fact that this
process was duly followed.
12 Together with the application which has been filed by the SBI for the
extension of time, ADR has filed a contempt petition in which it submits that
the information which was directed to be disclosed by this Court can easily
be disclosed by the SBI because of the unique number which is printed on
the Electoral Bond. Irrespective of whether the unique identification number
which is not discernible to the naked eye will enable the disclosure of details,
the submissions of SBI in the application sufficiently indicate that the
information which has been directed to be disclosed by this Court is readily
available.
13 In view of the discussion, the Miscellaneous Application filed by the SBI
seeking an extension of time for the disclosure of details of the purchase and
redemption of Electoral Bonds until 30 June 2024 is dismissed. SBI is directed
to disclose the details by the close of business hours on 12 March 2024.
(iii) Mumbai Main Branch (00300): Horniman Circle, Fort, Mumbai - 400001
(iv) New Delhi Main Branch (00691) : 11, Parliament Street, New Delhi – 110 001.
This was updated to 29 Branches later.
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14 ECI shall compile the information and publish the details on its official
website no later than by 5 pm on 15 March 2024.
15 During the pendency of the proceedings before the Constitution Bench, ECI
had, in compliance with the interim order passed by this Court, filed its
statements which have been maintained in the custody of the Court. Copies
of the statements which were filed by the ECI before this Court would be
maintained in the Office of the ECI. ECI shall forthwith publish the details of
the information which was supplied to this Court in pursuance of the interim
orders on its official website.
16 The SBI shall file an affidavit of its Chairman and Managing Director upon
compliance with the directions which have been issued above. We are not
inclined to exercise the contempt jurisdiction at this stage bearing in mind
the application which was submitted for extension of time. However, we
place SBI on notice that this Court will be inclined to proceed against it for
willful disobedience of the judgment if SBI does not comply with the
directions of this Court as set out in its judgment dated 15 February 2024 by
the timelines indicated in this order.
17 The Miscellaneous Application for extension of time shall accordingly stand
dismissed. The Contempt Petitions shall stand disposed of at this stage in the
above terms.
MA 486/2024
18 Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
[Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud]
[Sanjiv Khanna]
[B R Gavai]
[J B Pardiwala]
[Manoj Misra]
New Delhi; March 11, 2024 CKB
MA 486/2024
Miscellaneous Application No.486/2024 In W.P.(C) No.880/2017
(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 15-02-2024 in W.P.(C) No. No. 880/2017 passed by the Supreme Court of India)
STATE BANK OF INDIA Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS & ORS. Respondent(s)
(FOR ADMISSION and IA No.57595/2024-INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT and IA No.57604/2024-CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION and IA No.57592/2024APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION)
WITH Contempt Petition (C) No.138/2024 In W.P.(C) No.880/2017 Contempt Petition (C) No.140/2024 In W.P.(C) No.59/2018 (With IA No.61563/2024-EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.)
Date : 11-03-2024 These matters were called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
For Petitioner(s) Mr. Harish Salve, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG
Mr. Sanjay Kapur, AOR
Ms. Divya Singh Pundir, Adv.
Mr. Devesh Dubey, Adv.
MA 486/2024
Ms. Mahima Kapur, Adv.
Ms. Mansi Kapur, Adv.
Mrs. Shubhra Kapur, Adv.
Mr. Arjun Bhatia, Adv.
Mr. Surya Prakash, Adv.
Ms. Isha Virmani, Adv.
CPC 138/2024 Mr. Prashant Bhushan, AOR
Ms. Neha Rathi, Adv.
Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, Adv.
Ms. Kajal Giri, Adv.
Ms. Shivani Kapoor, Adv.
Mr. Kamal Kishore, Adv.
CPC 140/2024 Mr. Shadan Farasat, AOR
Mr. Harshit Anand, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Babbar, Adv.
Ms. Hrishika Jain, Adv.
Ms. Natasha Maheshwari, Adv.
Ms. Mreganka Kukreja, Adv.
Mr. Aman Naqvi, Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. Tushar mehta, SG
Mr. R. Balasubramanium, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Seema Bengani, Adv.
Mr. Shyam Gopal, Adv.
Ms. Shradha Deshmukh, Adv.
Mr. Chinmayee Chandra, Adv.
Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv.
Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Kr. Pandey, Adv.
Mr. Kartikay Aggarwal, Adv.
Mr. Kukesh Kr. Singh, Adv.
Ameyakirama Thanvi, Adv.
Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv.
MA 486/2024
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
1 The Miscellaneous Application for extension of time is dismissed and the
Contempt Petitions are disposed of in terms of the signed reportable order.
2 Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
A.R.-cum-P.S. Assistant Registrar
(Signed reportable order is placed on the file)