In a landmark ruling on February 15, a five-judge constitution bench invalidated the Centre's electoral bonds scheme, which permitted anonymous political funding, deeming it "unconstitutional." The court mandated the Election Commission to disclose details of donors, donation amounts, and recipients by March 13.
The Supreme Court is set to hear the plea filed by the State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday, seeking an extension until June 30 to disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties before the scheme was terminated last month. A five-judge Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, will also address a separate plea requesting contempt action against the SBI for allegedly disobeying the apex court's direction to submit details of political party contributions through electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6.
The bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, is set to convene at 10:30 am to address both petitions.
In a landmark ruling on February 15, a five-judge constitution bench invalidated the Centre's electoral bonds scheme, which permitted anonymous political funding, deeming it "unconstitutional." The court mandated the Election Commission to disclose details of donors, donation amounts, and recipients by March 13.
Following the verdict, the Supreme Court directed the SBI, the authorised financial institution under the scheme, to submit details of electoral bonds purchased from April 12, 2019, until the termination date to the Election Commission by March 6. The Commission was then instructed to publish the information on its official website by March 13.
On March 4, the SBI filed a plea with the apex court, seeking an extension until June 30 to disclose electoral bond details encashed by political parties. The SBI argued that retrieving information from different sources and matching donor identities to donations would be a time-consuming process.
The SBI explained that due to stringent measures to maintain donor anonymity, decoding electoral bonds and matching donors to donations would be complex. The bank maintained that donor details were sealed at designated branches and deposited in the main branch in Mumbai to safeguard anonymity.
Subsequently, a separate petition was filed, seeking contempt proceedings against the SBI for alleged disobedience of the court's directives. The petition, filed by NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms and Common Cause, accused the SBI of deliberately delaying the disclosure to withhold donor and donation amount details from the public before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The contempt plea argued that electoral bonds are traceable, as evidenced by the SBI's secret number-based donor records. It said that anonymity in political party finances undermines participatory democracy and citizens' right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Access to electoral bond information, the plea contended, empowers voters to make informed choices.