A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will hear on March 11 an application filed by the State Bank of India (SBI) seeking extension of time till June 30 to disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, will also hear a separate plea which has sought initiation of contempt action against the SBI alleging it “wilfully and deliberately” disobeyed the apex court’s direction to submit details of the contributions made to political parties through electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6.
In a landmark verdict delivered on February 15, a five-judge constitution bench had scrapped the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordering disclosure by the Election Commission of the donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients by March 13.
Earlier, An NGO moved a contempt plea in the Supreme Court on Thursday, challenging the State Bank of India’s (SBI) application seeking an extension of time till June 30 to disclose the details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions made by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who appeared in the court on behalf of NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), that he was seeking initiation of contempt proceedings in the case.
