LI Network
Published on: March 16, 2024 at 10:12 IST
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has moved an application to the Supreme Court seeking modifications in the judgment pertaining to the electoral bonds case. This move follows the recent uploading of electoral bond details issued to political parties on the ECI’s website.
The application filed by the ECI requests the Supreme Court to return the sealed cover documents previously submitted by the ECI. The poll body emphasized its lack of retained copies of these documents to maintain confidentiality. As a result, it sought the return of these documents from the court to facilitate the uploading of details.
According to reports, the modification plea aims to retrieve the data submitted to the court, considering the ECI’s absence of copies. The Supreme Court will now deliberate on the matter concerning compliance with its orders in connection with the electoral bonds case.
This development comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s directive to the State Bank of India (SBI) to furnish electoral bond details to the Election Commission, alongside instructing the disclosure of electoral bond data by March 13.
Partially adhering to the Supreme Court’s order, the SBI submitted electoral bond data to the Election Commission on March 12. Subsequently, the Election Commission published the received data on its website on March 14.
As per the latest update, the SBI disclosed that between April 12, 2019, and February 15, 2024, a total of 22,217 bonds were purchased, with 18,871 bonds purchased and 20,421 redeemed during this period.
The electoral bonds scheme, which allowed for anonymous funding to political parties, has been under scrutiny, and these recent developments mark significant steps toward transparency and accountability in electoral financing.
Stay tuned for further updates as the Supreme Court deliberates on the Election Commission’s modification plea and its implications on electoral bond disclosures and transparency in political funding.