SBI seeking extension on electoral bond data 'ploy' to delay it till polls: CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India - Marxist on Thursday said SBI approaching the apex court to extend the June 30 deadline for handing over details related to electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India is an "obvious ploy" to ensure the details are not revealed before the Lok Sabha elections. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Politburo of the CPI(M) said, it is "unbelievable" that the State Bank of India, whose operations are digitised, cannot compile all the relevant details of electoral bonds in a few days' time, and alleged that the bank took the step under government's pressure.

"The State Bank of India has failed to provide all the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6 as directed by the Supreme Court in its judgement that declared electoral bonds as unconstitutional. The judgement provided three weeks time to the SBI to furnish this information," the CPI(M) said.

"Instead, on the eve of the deadline of March 6, the SBI approached the court asking for another 116 days to submit the details by June 30.


"This is an obvious ploy to ensure that the details of electoral bonds are not made public till the elections are over. It is unbelievable that the SBI, whose operations are digitalized, cannot compile all the relevant details of electoral bonds in a few days' time," it said.

"The SBI could have taken this untenable stand only due to the pressure of the Modi government. The Supreme Court should ensure that the SBI submits all the details of the electoral bonds forthwith," the CPI(M) added, and called upon its units to organise protests demanding the same.

The Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held in April-May. The schedule is yet to be announced by the Election Commission.

In its application filed before the top court on Monday, the SBI said data related to the issuance of electoral bonds and to the redemption of the bond was kept recorded in two different silos and no central database has been maintained to ensure that donors' anonymity.

The Supreme Court on February 15 annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, saying it violates the Constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information.