SBI to stop issuing electoral bonds ‘immediately’ after Supreme Court's judgement

The poll panel will make all the donations public within a week of the receipt of information.

In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the State Bank of India to stop issuing electoral bonds immediately and submit all the details to the Election Commission by March 6.

The poll panel will make all the donations public within a week of the receipt of information from the SBI.

The apex court also ruled that SBI shall submit details of political parties which received contributions through electoral bonds since April 12, 2019 till date to the Election Commission.

“The ECI will make all donations public within one week of the receipt of information,” the court said as it delivered its verdict on a clutch of petitions that have contested the validity of the scheme of political funding.

The SBI is the only bank authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds. The lender does not print the bonds, but its authorised branches acquire them from the Centre in different calendar years.

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