The Supreme Court on March 11 ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to submit electoral bond donor details to the Election Commission of India (EC) by March 12, dismissing the lender’s petition seeking more time to do the same.

Observing that the petitioner’s submissions indicate that all information is “readily available”, the top court said, “SBI is directed to disclose the details by the close of business hours [on] March 12, 2024. EC shall compile the information and publish the details in its official website no later than by March 15, 2024, by 5 pm.

The five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud also rapped SBI for its “disobedience” in not complying with its previous order to furnish all details of electoral bond purchases to the EC by March 6, and delaying the process.

“We place SBI on notice that this Court may be inclined to proceed against it for wilful disobedience if SBI does not comply with the directions by the timelines indicated in this order,” the bench said.

On February 15, the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bond scheme as unconstitutional. It directed the SBI to furnish details of all electoral bond purchases since April 12, 2019, to the EC by March 6. It further directed this information to be published on the EC website by March 13.

SBI, however, approached the Court on March 4 seeking more time, citing the “time-consuming” nature of the process due to anonymity protocols surrounding the donors.

Pulling up the SBI for requesting an extension till June 30 to disclose the details, the bench said, “In the last 26 days, what steps have you taken? Your application is silent on that.”

“It’s a serious matter when you come up with extension like this. Our judgement was crystal clear,” said Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

Arguing its case, senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for SBI, said the bank required more time to collate all information, citing the sensitivity of the matter due to the anonymous nature of the process. It added that donor details were kept in sealed covers at designated branches for anonymity.

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said, “You say details were kept in sealed cover and submitted at Mumbai Branch. Our directions were not for matching the information. We only wanted SBI to divulge clear details of donors. Why are you not complying with the judgment?”

Justice Khanna also chimed in, saying, “All details are in sealed cover, and you just have to open the sealed cover and give details.”

The bench asked the SBI to do a “plain disclosure” as per the court’s judgment.  It also dismissed a contempt petition filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) against SBI.

Source: India Today