Supreme Court rejects 100 per cent cross verification of EVM votes with VVPAT slips
The top court also rejected the prayers of petitioners to return to ballot paper voting system, calling it foible and unsound.
The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the State Bank of India for withholding information related to the Electoral Bonds and asked it to disclose all the details it has on EBs by 5 pm on March 21.
The SC said in the judgment, it had asked the SBI to disclose all details and that includes the Electoral Bond numbers as well. The top court said that SBI should not be selective in disclosing the details.
While hearing the case, the consideration bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud told the SBI that it wants all information related to the Electoral Bonds to be disclosed which is in the bank’s possession.
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Appearing on behalf of the bank, Senior advocate Harish Salve told the Supreme Court that if the numbers of Electoral Bonds are to be given, SBI will give.
Earlier on Sunday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) uploaded new data received in digitised form from the registry of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds on its website.
“In compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions, contained in its order dated February 15 and March 11, 2024 (in the matter of WP NO.880 of 2017), the ECI has already uploaded data on Electoral Bonds as provided by State Bank of India (SBI) vide press note of the Commission dated 14.3.2024,” the ECI said.
Political parties had filed the data on Electoral Bonds in a sealed cover as directed by the Supreme Court’s interim order dated April 12, 2019, in the said WP NO.880 of 2017, it said.
“Data so received from political parties was deposited in the Supreme Court without opening in sealed covers. In pursuance of the Supreme Court’s order dated March 15, 2024, the Registry of the Supreme Court has returned physical copies along with a digitized record of the same in a pen drive in sealed cover,” the statement said.
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