New Delhi: As many as 79 former civil servants, under the banner of Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), have written to Election Commission of India to direct the State Bank of India to immediately release the details of donors of the electoral bonds scheme, which the Supreme Court recently struck down as “unconstitutional”.On March 4, the SBI urged the court to extend the time for collating donors’ data until June 30, instead of earlier deadline of March 6. “The SBI’s denying this information and indicating that it would not be available before the general elections seems to indicate that the SBI is shielding the Government in power from any criticism that there was a quid pro quo between the bonds and favours given to somefirms or raids/intimidation to pressurize the corporates to fall in line,” CCG said in its letter to ECI.Published below is the full statement and list of signatories:§CCG OPEN LETTER TO THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA 9 March 2024Shri Rajiv KumarChief Election Commissioner Shri Arun GoelElection CommissionerDear Shri Rajiv Kumar and Shri Arun Goel,We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked in the Central and State Governments during our careers. As a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India.We are writing to you with reference to the extraordinary request of the State Bank of India (SBI) to the Supreme Court of India (SCI) to extend the time to submit information regarding electoral bonds till June 30, 2024, by which time the elections to Parliament would be over. We note with dismay that it took SBI seventeen days to inform the Court on 4th March that they are not in a position to collate the data by 6th March. For India’s largest bank with 48 crore accounts and boasting high levels of digitization, a pathetic excuse has been proffered that records were kept manually and hence the extension sought. Thomas Franco, former General Secretary of the All India Banking Officers Confederation, has pointed out that SBI had asked the Government of India by a letter of June 2018 for a sum of more than Rs 60 lakhs for development of IT systems for the electoral bond scheme. In the same piece, Franco has also published an RTI reply that gives, in just a period of six days, details of bonds sold over six years. Subhash Chandra Garg, Finance Secretary at the time of finalization of the scheme (and a defender of it), has said in interviews that it should not take more than ten minutes to get the information sought. He also makes the important point that the SCI has not asked for details linking the purchase of bonds with the political parties to whom they have been given; so, the demand for time is wholly unjustified.While striking down the scheme of electoral bonds as unconstitutional, the SCI had flagged both the right to information of the citizens of India to know about funding of political parties and how there would be no level playing field if one party got undue financial advantage. The SBI’s denying this information and indicating that it would not be available before the general elections seems to indicate that the SBI is shielding the Government in power from any criticism that there was a quid pro quo between the bonds and favours given to some firms or raids/intimidation to pressurize the corporates to fall in line. The media portals Newslaundry and News Minute have already published material linking thirty corporates and their purchase of bonds worth about Rs 335 crore in the previous five years to the blatant misuse of enforcement agencies to make these corporates fall in line.We would like to reference the letter of March 6, 2024, written by EAS Sarma, a former Secretary to the Government of India, in which he has requested the ECI not only to freeze any unspent funds of political parties from the scheme but also not to publish the schedule of elections till the SBI gives the information ordered by the SCI. We note that the term of the present Lok Sabha is up to June 16, 2024, and to complete the election in time, the ECI could announce the schedule by March 27, or even earlier. The SBI should give the electoral bonds data much before the announcement of the elections. This is an opportunity for the ECI to reclaim its reputation and its integrity by using its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution. As Shri Sarma has suggested, it should direct the SBI to immediately release the information. The ECI should also make it clear that it will not announce the schedule for the 2024 general elections till the SBI furnishes this information. If the ECI remains quiescent, it will not live up to its Constitutional mandate of respecting the right to information of Indian voters and of holding free and fair elections on a level playing field. That would be a death blow for democracy in India as we know it.SATYAMEVA JAYATEYours faithfully,Constitutional Conduct Group (79 signatories, as below) 1.Anita AgnihotriIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI2.G.BalachandhranIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal3.Gopalan BalagopalIAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal4.Chandrashekar BalakrishnanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Coal, GoI5.Rana BanerjiRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI6.Sharad BeharIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh7.Aurobindo BeheraIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha8.Madhu BhaduriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Portugal9.Nutan Guha BiswasIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of Delhi10.Meeran C BorwankarIPS (Retd.)Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI11.Ravi BudhirajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI12.Sundar BurraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra13.Maneshwar Singh ChahalIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Home, Govt. of Punjab14.R.ChandramohanIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi15.Ranjan ChatterjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Meghalaya & former Expert Member, National Green Tribunal16.Kalyani ChaudhuriIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal17.Gurjit Singh CheemaIAS (Retd.)Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab 18.F.T.R. ColasoIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka &former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir19.Anna DaniIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra20.P.R. DasguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI21.Pradeep K. DebIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI22.Nitin DesaiFormer Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI23.Sushil DubeyIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Sweden24.K.P. FabianIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Italy25.Suresh K. GoelIFS (Retd.)Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI26.S.K. GuhaIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI27.H.S. GujralIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab28.Meena GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI29.Ravi Vira GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India30.Wajahat HabibullahIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner31.Naini JeyaseelanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI32.Najeeb JungIAS (Retd.)Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi33.Sanjay KaulIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka34.Vinod C. KhannaIFS (Retd.)Former Additional Secretary, MEA, GoI35.Gita KripalaniIRS (Retd.)Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoI36.Ish KumarIPS (Retd.)Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission37.Harsh ManderIAS (Retd.)Govt. of Madhya Pradesh38.Aditi MehtaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan39.Shivshankar MenonIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser40.SonaliniMirchandaniIFS(Resigned)GoI41.Malay MishraIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Hungary42.Satya Narayan MohantyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission43.Deb MukharjiIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal44.Shiv Shankar MukherjeeIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom45.Gautam MukhopadhayaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Myanmar46.P. Joy OommenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh47.Amitabha PandeIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI48.Maxwell PereiraIPS (Retd.)Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi49.G.K. PillaiIAS (Retd.)Former Home Secretary, GoI50.Rajesh PrasadIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to the Netherlands 51.N.K.RaghupathyIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI52.V.P. RajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission53.V. RamaniIAS (Retd.)Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. ofMaharashtra54.M.RameshkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal55.K. Sujatha RaoIAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoI56.Satwant ReddyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI57.Vijaya Latha ReddyIFS (Retd.)Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI58.Julio RibeiroIPS (Retd.)Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & formerAmbassador to Romania59.Aruna RoyIAS(Resigned)60.Manabendra N. RoyIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal61.Deepak SananIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh62.S. SatyabhamaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI63.N.C. SaxenaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI64.A. SelvarajIRS (Retd.)Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI65.Abhijit SenguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI66.Aftab SethIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Japan67.Ashok Kumar SharmaIFoS (Retd.)Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat68.Ashok Kumar SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia69.Navrekha SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Indonesia70.Raju SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh71.Avay ShuklaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary (Forests & Technical Education), Govt. of Himachal Pradesh72.K.S. SidhuIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra73.Tara Ajai SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka74.Tirlochan SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI75.Prakriti SrivastavaIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Special Officer, Rebuild Kerala Development Programme, Govt. of Kerala76.Anup ThakurIAS (Retd.)Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission77.P.S.S. ThomasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission78.Ashok VajpeyiIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi79.Rudi WarjriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica
