Electoral Bonds Case Live Updates : Supreme Court Hearing Of SBI's Time Extension Plea, Contempt Petitions Against SBI Chairman
The Supreme Court will hear today the application filed by the State Bank of India seeking an extension of time till June 30 to furnish information relating to the Electoral Bonds.As per the judgment delivered on February 15, the Bank had to furnish the information to the Election Commission of India by March 6. The SBI was required to share information such as the purchaser of the bonds,...
The Supreme Court will hear today the application filed by the State Bank of India seeking an extension of time till June 30 to furnish information relating to the Electoral Bonds.
As per the judgment delivered on February 15, the Bank had to furnish the information to the Election Commission of India by March 6. The SBI was required to share information such as the purchaser of the bonds, their denomination, who encashed the bonds and the date of encashment to the ECI, following which the ECI was required to publish these details on its website by March 13.
The SBI has sought additional time stating that it has to compile and decode information relating to the sale of twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventeen (22,217) electoral bonds.
The Court will also hear today contempt petitions filed against SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara for the failure of the Bank to disclose the information by March 6.
The contempt petitions have been filed by NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Common Cause and the political party Communist Party of India (Marxist).
A 5-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will hear the matters at 10.30 AM today.
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Salve : Your lordships may clarify that correlating information is not needed, tomorrow I don't want another contempt.
Justice Gavai : The order dictated by my lord the Chief Justice of India is very clear.
SC : The SBI shall file an affidavit of its Chairman 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 SBI on notice that this Court may be inclined to proceed against it for wilful disobedience if SBI does not comply with the directions by the timelines indicated in this order.
SC asks ECI to publish the details of the information supplied to the Court as per interim order on its website.
SC : ECI shall compile the information and publish the details in its official website no later than by 15 March, 2024 by 5 PM.
SC : SBI is directed to disclose the details by the close of business hours 12 March, 2024.
SC : The submissions of the SBI sufficiently indicate that the information is readily available. The Application filed by the SBI seeking extension of time until 30 June, 2024 is dismissed.
SC : Together with the SBI's application for extension of time, ADR has filed a contempt petition in which it submits that the information can be easily disclosed by the SBI because of the unique number printed on the electoral bonds.
SC : The information about poltical parties information will be stored in these branches which would be clearly accessible.
SC : There is no dispute about the fact that this process was duly followed.
SC : Similarly, the FAQs with respect to redemption of bonds states that each political party can only open one current account for EB redemption. The current account would be opened by the political party only in 39 authorised branches ..
SC : Thus, the details of the bonds which have been purchased are readily available.