SC to hear SBI plea seeking more time for Electoral Bond details on Mar 11

The Supreme Court will hear a State Bank of India (SBI) plea on March 11 seeking an extension of time until June 30 to submit details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India.

A five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will hear the matter on March 11. The Constitution Bench will also hear the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) contempt petition on that day too.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against the State Bank of India for not complying with the top court's direction to disclose details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan for ADR mentioned the plea before a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Thursday and apprised the top court that the State Bank of India has filed an application for extension, which is likely to be listed on Monday.

Advocate Bhushan yesterday urged the top court to list ADR's plea along with SBI's application.

On March 15, the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court asked the SBI to furnish details of the political parties that have received electoral bonds since April 12, 2019, and all the particulars received and submit them to the Election Commission of India by March 6. This came when the top court held the electoral bond scheme was violative of Article 19(1)(a) and unconstitutional and struck down the electoral bond scheme.

As the State Bank of India (SBI) missed the deadline to submit the details, it has moved the Supreme Court to seek an extension of time until June 30 to submit the details of electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India. SBI, in its application, said that it needs extra time to disclose details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties.

Now ADR has sought to initiate contempt proceedings against SBI for not complying with the court order and said that it has wilfully and deliberately disobeyed the judgment passed by the Constitution Bench of the top court, and the same not only negates the right to information of the citizens but also wilfully undermines the authority of the apex court.

ADR, one of the petitions in the matter, said that two days before the expiry of the stated deadline for the State Bank of India (SBI) to submit information concerning electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India, SBI has filed the application, which is mala fide and demonstrates wilful and deliberate disobedience & defiance of the judgement passed by the Constitution Bench of the top court. The contempt plea also stated that it is a clear attempt to undermine the authority of the apex court.

ADR submitted that the State Bank of India has deliberately filed the said application at the last moment to ensure that the details of donors and the amount of donations are not disclosed to the public before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "The said application neither discloses the progress made so far & steps taken to comply with the judgment dated February 15, 2024 nor does it show even partial compliance with the judgment passed by this Court," ADR said.