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The State Bank of India (SBI), the nation’s largest lender, has approached the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the deadline until June 30 for disclosing details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties. In its application filed before the apex court, SBI cited the complexity of retrieving information from multiple sources and the intricate process of matching data as the reasons behind its request for an extension.
Highlighting the challenges involved in the disclosure process, SBI emphasized the necessity of retrieving information from various “silos” and the meticulous task of aligning data from different sources. The bank asserted that this undertaking would require considerable time and resources to ensure accuracy and compliance with legal obligations.
SBI underscored its commitment to safeguarding the anonymity of donors who contributed to political parties through electoral bonds. According to the bank, the segregation of data related to bond issuance and redemption into separate silos was a deliberate measure aimed at protecting donors’ identities.
“It is submitted that the data related to the issuance of the bond and the data related to the redemption of the bond was kept recorded in two different silos. No central database was maintained. This was done to ensure that donors’ anonymity would be protected,” the bank stated in its plea.
Furthermore, SBI disclosed that donor details were securely sealed at designated branches before being transferred to the main branch in Mumbai, further underscoring its commitment to maintaining confidentiality and privacy.
The plea comes in the wake of a significant ruling by the Supreme Court on February 15, which invalidated the electoral bonds scheme for political funding. Citing violations of constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression, as well as the right to information, the apex court ordered SBI to divulge the names of contributors to the six-year-old scheme to the Election Commission.
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