Guwahati, Mar 6 (PTI) The Assam Congress on Wednesday staged a protest in front of the SBI’s Northeast headquarters, demanding immediate disclosure of details regarding electoral bonds in compliance with the Supreme Court order.
Led by Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress (APMC) president Mira Barthakur Goswami, senior leaders such as Pawan Khera and Mahima Singh shouted slogans in front of the SBI Northeast head office, situated opposite the Assam Secretariat on GS Road.
“The government talks about digital India, so why does SBI need so much time to disclose the data? Is this the efficiency of digital India? BJP is the biggest gainer of this notorious scheme, named electoral bonds,” Goswami said.
The BJP is trying to hide all information regarding who funded them, she alleged.
“We demand the SBI to follow the Supreme Court guidelines and make the list public,” the opposition leader said.
The State Bank of India on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time till June 30 to disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties.
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on February 15 scrapped the Narendra Modi government’s electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, terming it “unconstitutional” and ordering disclosure of the names of the purchasers, value of the bonds and their recipients.
Holding that the 2018 scheme was “violative” of the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression and right to information, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud did not agree with the Centre’s contention that it was meant to bring about transparency and curb black money in political funding.
Ordering closure of the scheme forthwith, the top court also directed the SBI, the authorised financial institution under the scheme, to submit by March 6 the details of electoral bonds purchased since April 12, 2019 till date to the Election Commission, which will publish the information on its official website by March 13.
As per the order, the SBI must disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties. The information should include the date of encashment and denomination of the bonds. PTI TR TR MNB
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.