Supreme Court Refuses To Direct Disclosure Of Information Of Electoral Bonds Sold Between March 1, 2018 & April 12, 2019

Presently, the Supreme Court has only directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose information relating to bonds sold since the court's interim order on April 12, 2019 until the date on which it declared the scheme unconstitutional on February 15. By this interim order, a bench headed by former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had directed all political parties to provide the Election Commission of India (ECI) details regarding the donations received by them by way of electoral bonds.

During today's hearing, a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud clarified that it was a 'conscious decision' made by it to direct the disclosure of electoral bond details from April 12, 2019. Explaining the rationale for this decision, Chief Justice Chandrachud said that after the interim order of April 12, 2019, every donor was put on notice regarding a potential disclosure.

Addressing Senior Advocate Vijay Hansaria, representing 'Citizens Rights Trust', a non-profit which sought disclosure of details from March 2018, the chief justice said -

“With effect from April 12, 2019, we directed the collection of details. Everyone was put on notice at the time. This is why we did not ask for the disclosure of the bonds sold before this interim order. This was a conscious choice by this constitution bench.”

The court also said that altering the date of the disclosure would amount to a substantive modification of the judgment, which cannot be directed in a miscellaneous application. Ultimately, this application was dismissed as non-maintainable.

During the proceedings, Chief Justice Chandrachud also earlier told Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was seeking to press an application on behalf of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) against the disclosure of electoral bond numbers, “Everyone was put on notice in April 2019 after our interim order directing the collection of details.”

At the end of the hearing, the court issued a clarification that the State Bank of India is required to furnish all details available with it, including the alphanumeric number and serial number, if any, of the bonds purchased after April 11, 2019. In order to avoid any controversy in the future, the chairperson of the bank was also directed to file an affidavit by 5 PM on Thursday, March 21 that the SBI has "disclosed all details in its custody and that no details have been withheld."