SC dismisses SBI plea seeking extension of electoral bonds deadline

The Supreme Court has dismissed the State Bank of India’s petition seeking an extension of the deadline to publish information about donations made through electoral bonds. The court has told SBI to disclose the details by Tuesday, and for the Election Commission to publish the data by March 15, according to LiveLaw. 

A contempt petition had also been filed in the Supreme Court against the SBI after it reportedly missed the March 6 deadline to disclose information about electoral bonds purchased and encashed since 2019.

It came a day after the Election Commission said it had “no information or comments to offer” on whether the SBI had adhered to the deadline.

The SBI had earlier moved the apex court seeking time till June 30 to disclose details of all electoral bonds purchased or encashed by political parties.

Last week, the Association of Democratic Reforms moved the top court saying the SBI had “wilfully and deliberately disobeyed” the verdict passed by the Constitution bench of the court on February 15, according to LiveLaw. “The same not only negates the right to information of the citizens, but also wilfully undermines the authority” of the court, the ADR reportedly said.

Appearing for ADR, advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the plea before CJI DY Chandrachud for urgent listing. He said the petition could be listed along with the SBI’s petition, which is likely to be listed next week and seeks more time to disclose the information.

The Bank Employees Federation of India had earlier said that SBI must stick to the deadline set by the top court.

The Supreme Court verdict in February had tried to assuage concerns surrounding transparency in political funding ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

An investigation by Newslaundry and The News Minute had earlier highlighted a pattern to the money flow driving the BJP’s financial rise. Read all about it here.

The Congress had subsequently demanded a white paper from the BJP over its finances.

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