SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara
The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on State Bank of India (SBI) for requesting more time to furnish details regarding electoral bonds and told the lender to disclose the information to the Election Commission of India (ECI) by March 12, Tuesday.
With this, the plea by SBI seeking an extension till June 30, 2024, to give the details of electoral bonds for the period from April 12, 2019, to February 15, 2024, has been dismissed. The ECI is supposed to publish the details on its website by 5 pm on March 15. The court asked the bank how much work had been done till now to comply with its February 15 judgment.
“Today 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 candour from SBI,” said Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for SBI, said the bank was finding the job of reconciling the donor details with the redemption details challenging because they were stored in separate information silos.
In reply to this, the CJI pointed out the court’s direction did not require the bank to conduct a “matching exercise” but simply to disclose the information. The CJI noted that the bank had all the necessary details, as evidenced by its KYC records.
“I am not saying we don’t have the details,” Salve said. “We were told that this was supposed to be secret. That is how we devised the mechanism. We don’t want to create any havoc by making any mistake…”
The court had on February 15 ordered SBI, the bank handling electoral bonds, to immediately stop issuing them, and share the names of the purchasers, the value of the bonds, and their recipients with the ECI by March 6, and asked the latter to disclose those details by March 13.
However, days before the deadline, the bank filed an application seeking an extension till June 30, saying that “decoding” the electoral bonds and matching the donor to the donation would be a complex process.
A Bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, and judges Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra was hearing SBI’s application, along with a contempt petition filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) against SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara.
Common Cause and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had also filed contempt pleas against the public-sector bank for not disclosing the details.
The court cautioned the bank it would proceed against it for “wilfully disobeying its order” if it did not comply with its latest direction.
“The State Bank of India shall file an affidavit of its Chairperson and Managing Director on compliance with the directions issued above. While we are not inclined to exercise the contempt jurisdiction at this time, we place the State Bank of India on notice that this court may be inclined to proceed against it for wilful disobedience if it does not comply with the timelines indicated in this order,” the order said.
The five-judge Bench asked the ECI to publish the details of the information supplied to the court in pursuance of its interim order, on the commission’s website. By this interim order, issued in November last year, the court had asked the ECI to furnish the details of the funds received by all the political parties through electoral bonds till September 30 in a sealed cover.
“Whatever the Election Commission of India has placed before us, we’ll open it. In pursuance of an interim order, the Election Commission had furnished details. The registry has placed it in secured custody. We will direct them to open it right now,” CJI Chandrachud said during the hearing.
The Supreme Court on February 15 struck down the electoral bonds scheme, calling it “unconstitutional” and “arbitrary”.
The court held the scheme infringed on citizens’ right to information about potential quid pro quo arrangements, and ruled that an amendment to Section 182 of the Companies Act, which permitted Indian companies to donate any amount to a political party, was unconstitutional.
“The Supreme Court has taken a tough stand on the SBI’s application,” said lawyer Prashant Bhushan.
Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said: “The Supreme Court has done the right thing … I am sure the Supreme Court will understand the seriousness of the matter and give a verdict that will teach a lesson to those who tried to befool the court.”
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Prithiviraj Harichandan said: “It should be thoroughly examined whether electoral bonds have reduced political corruption … it should be re-examined by the court itself and it is my personal request.”
First Published: Mar 11 2024 | 9:50 PM IST
