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Supreme Court warns SBI of contempt proceedings for 'wilful disobedience'
The Supreme Court dismissed the State Bank of India's plea seeking extension of time to furnish the details of electoral bonds.
The Supreme Court on Monday warned the chairman and managing director of the State Bank of India (SBI) of contempt proceedings as it rejected the bank's plea seeking more time to furnish details of individuals and companies who bought its controversial electoral bonds to fund political parties.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said the information sought by the court is readily available with the bank and it should be shared with the Election Commission of India (ECI) "by close of business" on Tuesday.
“The SBI shall file an affidavit of its chairman and managing director on compliance with the directions issued above,” the bench said.
“While we are not inclined to exercise the contempt jurisdiction at this time, 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 timeline indicated in this order,” it added.
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The court had on February 15 scrapped the electoral bonds scheme that allowed individuals and companies to make unlimited and anonymous donations to political parties, calling it "unconstitutional". The court had also directed the bank to submit details of the contributions made to political parties through electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6.
On March 4, the SBI moved the apex court seeking an extension of the deadline till June 30, contending that retrieval of information from "each silo" and the procedure of matching the information of one silo to that of the other would be a time-consuming exercise.
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A separate plea was filed seeking initiation of contempt action against the SBI alleging the bank "willfully and deliberately" disobeyed the apex court's direction.
Reacting to the top court's order, advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared on behalf of NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms and Common Cause, said, “The Supreme Court has taken a tough stand on the SBI's application for extension of time till June 30 to disclose details about donors of electoral bonds as well as the parties which redeemed these electoral bonds.”
“The court has dismissed the application of the SBI, pointing out that the data that the court had asked them to give is already available with the SBI as per their affidavit, they've to submit the details of the donors and details of the parties which redeemed these electoral bonds.”
Former Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said the court has done the "right thing" by asking SBI to disclose details of electoral bonds by tomorrow.
"I am sure that 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."
