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TMI Blog2024 (3) TMI 586X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Abhishek Babbar, Adv. Ms. Hrishika Jain, Adv. Ms. Natasha Maheshwari, Adv. Ms. Mreganka Kukreja, Adv. Mr. Aman Naqvi, Adv. For the Respondent : 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. ORDER 1. By a judgment dated 15 February 2024 2024 INSC 113, 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 v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 Reforms "ADR" 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 (c) of the op ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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. 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' ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h the tear off portion of pay-in-slip and collect the EB from the Branch against acknowledgment. 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. 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 (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. The current account could be 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 Bo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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