Electoral Bonds saga: Rahul Gandhi accuses PM Modi for hiding ‘real face’ after SBI approaches SC

State Bank of India in its application to Supreme Court has asked for the extra time to disclose details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties.

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Edited By: Sonia Dham
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PM Modi’s last attempt to hide ‘real face’: Rahul Gandhi after SBI’s call

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when State Bank of India moved Supreme Court seeking time till June 30 to furnish all details related to Electoral Bonds. Taking it to his X handle, he posted, "Narendra Modi has tried his best to hide the 'donation business'. When the Supreme Court has said that it is the right of the countrymen to know the truth about electoral bonds, then why does SBI want this information not to be made public before the elections?"

"Asking for time till June 30 for information that can be retrieved with one click shows that there is definitely something fishy," he added.

Gandhi accused PM Modi for hiding real face behind ‘donation business.’

SBI approached SC for more time

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking an extension till June 30 to submit details of Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India.

According to the sources, SBI in its application has asked for the extra time to disclose details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties. The bank in its plea underlined the practical difficulties for decoding the exercise and the timeline fixed for it.

In its verdict months ahead of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, on February 15, asked the SBI to furnish details of the political parties that received Electoral Bonds since April 12, 2019, and all the particulars received and submit them to the Election Commission of India by March 6.

The top court asked the bank to furnish all the details, including date of encashment and date of denomination on its website by March 13.

When Supreme court quashed the Electoral Bond scheme 

A five-judge panel of the Indian Constitution, consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, unanimously invalidated the Election Bonds program and the changes made to the Representation of People Act and the Income Tax Act that had made the donations anonymous.

Notably, a number of petitions were submitted to the supreme court contesting changes made to many legislations by the Finance Acts of 2016 and 2017, arguing that these changes had allowed political parties to receive unrestricted, limitless funding.