An NGO filed a contempt plea in the Supreme Court against SBI's move to seek extension for disclosing details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties. SBI missed the SC deadline for information disclosure, potentially keeping political funding secret till Lok Sabha polls end.

NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Thursday filed a contempt plea in the Supreme Court (SC) against State Bank of India's (SBI) move to seek extension for disclosing details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties.

The plea was made by ADR through lawyer Prashant Bhushan. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud-led bench asked Bhushan to send e-mail, assuring listing of contempt plea on March 11.

SBI on Wednesday missed the SC deadline for disclosing information regarding electoral bonds encashed by political parties. SBI had requested an extension until June 30th to reveal details of each electoral bond encashed.

A five-judge bench had unanimously struck down 2018’s scheme for anonymous limitless donations to political parties as unconstitutional and put in place a mechanism to reveal in public domain complete details of donors, donation amounts and recipient parties to enable voters make an informed choice during elections.

The bench ruled that the information about corporate contributors through electoral bonds must be disclosed as the donations made by companies are purely for quid pro quo purposes. It also directed the poll panel to share the information on its website by March 13.

If apex court accepts SBI’s application seeking extension of time by 116 days, vital information about political funding will remain secret till Lok Sabha polls end.