From the Urdu Press: ‘SBI plays middleman in electoral bonds row’, ‘Chandrababu Naidu faces minority blowback’

The Supreme Court order putting the State Bank of India (SBI) on a 24-hour notice on the electoral bonds issue and the surprise resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel led to scathing editorials in the Urdu dailies. One of the dailies called the SBI a “middleman” for “being reluctant” in disclosing the names of the donors of electoral bonds. The apex court on Monday dismissed the SBI’s application seeking an extension till June 30 for providing details of electoral bonds.

Urdu Times, in its March 12 editorial, wrote that the Supreme Court has delivered a “historic verdict” on the electoral bonds issue. “Contrary to perceptions that the SC order on electoral bonds will just be an eyewash, the apex court’s order turned out to be historic,” the Mumbai-based daily wrote.

The editorial underlined that the lawyers representing the SBI had a tough time answering the questions posed by the five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court. It also called out the SBI’s dilly-dallying in disclosing the details of electoral bonds, saying the tactic did not work in the apex court, which, instead, set a 24-hour deadline to furnish the details.

“At the same time the court also directed the Election Commission of India to publish the details on its website,” it said. The order will help in restoring the deteriorating image of the court, the editorial said.

“SBI was supposed to submit the details of the bonds on March 6, but it resorted to various tactics to delay the process. This begs the question as to why the bank is reluctant in disclosing the details of the bonds, and why it is not revealing the names of people who have contributed crores of rupees as part of electoral funding. Who are these donors whose identity the SBI is reluctant to