Coming down heavily on the State Bank of India (SBI), the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed its application seeking an extension till June 30 to disclose details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties and asked it to furnish the details by tomorrow (March 12).
The poll body has been asked to publish the details on its website by 5 pm on Friday.
The court also warned that it will initiate contempt proceedings against the government-run bank if it does not provide the information by tomorrow.
Earlier, hearing SBI’s request for more time to provide details of the now-scrapped scheme, A five-judge bench, led by CJI DY Chandrachud fielded tough questions and asked what the bank has done for the past 26 days.
“Please tell what matching you have done in the last 26 days. There is a degree of candour expected from SBI as to this is the work which was expected and this has been done,” CJI said.
Appearing for the SBI, senior advocate Harish Salve said, “We are trying to collate the information and we are having to reverse the entire process. We as a bank were told that this is supposed to be a secret.”
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, however, responded, “You have to just open the sealed cover, collate the details and give the information. ECI was asked to file details in a sealed envelope.”
The court also warned SBI of contempt proceedings if it failed to release this data by close of business tomorrow. The court also directed the Chairman and Managing Director of SBI – India’s largest bank – to file an affidavit after compliance.
The court had, in a landmark verdict on February 15, scrapped the electoral bonds scheme and directed the Election Commission to make the details of the donation public by March 13.
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