The Supreme Court said that the bank had "sufficiently available" necessary information on electoral bonds......
Digital desk: The State Bank of India's request for an extension of time till June 30 to reveal information on electoral bonds was denied by the Supreme Court on Monday. The Supreme Court brought up the SBI for "wilful disobedience" and ordered the bank to provide the information by March 12 at the latest.
The SBI just needed to open the sealed cover, get the information, and provide it to the Election Commission, according to the Supreme Court. Only a few weeks remain before the Lok Sabha elections.
The Supreme Court declared the Center's electoral bonds program, which permitted anonymous political finance, to be "unconstitutional" last month and ordered the SBI to provide the Election Commission with information on any bonds purchased after April 12, 2019, by March 6.
Later, the SBI, the bank that issued the electoral bonds, requested an extension till June 30 in order to reveal the specifics of every bond that political parties cashed.
The Supreme Court said that the bank had "sufficiently available" necessary information on electoral bonds. "Submissions of the SBI indicate that the information sought is readily available. Thus, the application by SBI seeking an extension of time until June 30 is dismissed. SBI is directed to disclose the details by the close of business hours of March 12, 2024," the court said.
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud led a five-judge panel that harshly criticized the SBI and warned to file a contempt prosecution if the government-owned bank disobeyed the court's orders. "Though we are not exercising the contempt jurisdiction, we place SBI on notice that this court will proceed against it for wilful disobedience of court if it does not adhere to the directions issued by the court," the order said.
During the hearing, the court rapped the bank over its non-disclosure of the progress made so far in furnishing the details of electoral bonds. "Our judgment was issued on February 15. Today, it is March 11. In the last 26 days, what is the extent of matching done by you? The affidavit is silent on this. We expect a degree of candor from the SBI," the court said.
Underlining that its February 15 judgment was "crystal clear", the Supreme Court said the SBI only had to open the sealed cover, collate the details and give the information to the Election Commission. The Supreme Court further said that the electoral bonds scheme, which was abandoned, specifically stated that any information provided by the bond buyer be released upon request or upon registration of an offense by a law enforcement agency.
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