Electoral bonds: PM Modi's donation business about to be exposed, says Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Hailing the Supreme Court's order to the State Bank of India (SBI) to furnish all electoral bond details to the Election Commission by Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "donation business is about to be exposed".


The apex court also directed the Election Commission to compile the information to be furnished by the SBI and publish the details on its official website no later than March 15 by 5pm.

Biggest scam in Indian history: Rahul Gandhi
Welcoming the SC's directions, Rahul Gandhi said: "Narendra Modi's 'donation business' is about to be exposed! The government that came to power by promising to bring back black money from Swiss banks in 100 days, stood on its head in the Supreme Court for hiding the data of its own bank."

He added that the electoral bonds scheme was "going to prove to be the biggest scam in Indian history".


The Congress leader said the scam "will reveal the real face of Narendra Modi in front of the country by exposing the nexus of corrupt industrialists and the government".

"The chronology is clear: Donate - Take Business; Donate - Take Protection! Shower of blessings on those who donate and tax burden on the general public, this is the Modi government of BJP," he said on X.

Congress leader Pawan Khera also welcomed the top court's decision, and said that the entire country was wondering "why the BJP is afraid of letting details into the public domain".

"People have the right to know which company paid how much amount to which political party," he added.

What the SC order says

In its February 15 judgement, the apex court had set the deadline for SBI as March 6. The apex court had said that by March 13, the ECI should publish the details of Electoral Bonds on its official website.
The SBI last week moved the top court seeking an extension till June 30 to comply with the court's directions.

Passing the order on SBI's application today, the bench ordered, "Submissions of SBI in application indicates that information sought is readily available. Thus, the application by SBI seeking extension of time until June 30 is dismissed. SBI is directed to disclose the details by the close of business hours of March 12, 2024."

The Constitution bench also warned the SBI of contempt of court against it for wilfully disobeying its order in the event of non-compliance with the latest directions.
(With inputs from agencies)