 "Electoral bonds case: Supreme Court to hear contempt plea on March 11")
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday said it will hear the contempt plea by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) against the State Bank of India (SBI) on March 11 in the electoral bonds case.
Appearing for ADR, advocate Prashant Bhushan urged the bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, to hear the plea on March 11 along with SBI’s application.
SBI moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking an extension of time till June 30, 2024, to furnish information about electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The deadline given by the court was March 6.
The court had on 15 February ordered SBI, the issuing bank, to immediately cease issuing electoral bonds, share the names of the purchasers, the value of the bonds, and their recipients with the Election Commission until 6 March, and asked the latter to disclose those details by 13 March.
Also Read
ADR's plea called for contempt proceedings against SBI for ‘wilfully and deliberately disobeying’ the 15 February order of the SC in which the court had directed SBI to submit details of the contribution made to the political parties through Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI) by 6 March. It said the extension sought by SBI is mala fide.
SBI in its plea said that the court has asked it to give the electoral bonds details from 12 April 2019, to 15 February 2024. "In that time period, twenty-two thousand two hundred seventeen (22,217) electoral bonds were used for making donations to various political parties. Redeemed Bonds were deposited to Mumbai Main Branch by the Authorised Branches at the end of each phase in sealed envelopes. Coupled with the fact that two different information silos existed, this would mean that a total of forty-four thousand four hundred thirty-four (44,434) information sets would have to be decoded, compiled and compared," the application said.
In view of this, SBI said 'the timeline of three weeks fixed by the court in its judgement on 15 February 2024 would not be sufficient for the entire exercise to be completed. "Therefore, an extension of time may kindly be granted by this court in order to enable the SBI to comply with the judgement," SBI said.
It also submitted that due to the stringent measures undertaken to ensure that the identity of the donors was kept anonymous, “decoding” of the Electoral bonds and the matching of the donor to the donations made would be a complex process.
The Bench had on 15 February said: “State Bank of India shall furnish the details of donations through electoral bonds and the details of the political parties which received the contributions.”
The bank has been directed to submit the details to the Election Commission of India in three weeks (until 6 March 2024), which will be published by the poll body on its website by 13 March 2024. The Supreme Court gave its verdict on pleas challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme.
The bank will submit details of bonds purchased from 12 April 2019, to the present to the Election Commission. The Supreme Court had previously instructed the Election Commission on 12 April 2019, to submit the records of bonds purchased up to that point in a sealed cover.
Meanwhile, electoral bonds, with a validity period of 15 days and yet to be encashed, would be returned by political parties or purchasers to the bank, which must refund the amount to the purchasers’ accounts.
“SBI's reluctance to adhere to the Supreme Court's mandate jeopardizes the foundational principles of accountability within our democracy,” said Nilesh Tribhuvann, Managing Partner, White & Brief - Advocates & Solicitors.