Supreme Court dismisses SBI’s Extension Plea, Orders the Disclosure of Electoral Bonds Details by March 12

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed SBI's request for more time to disclose the details of the Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission. It ordered SBI to provide the information by March 12 and mandated the poll panel to publish it on their website by 5 pm on Friday.

“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," noted the SC. The court cautioned the SBI chairman and managing director that failure to comply with its order within the specified timeline would result in contempt proceedings.

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on February 15 invalidated the Centre's electoral bonds scheme, calling it "unconstitutional." The Supreme Court had directed the State Bank of India to reveal all details of donors, donation amounts, and recipients by March 13.

SBI last week had sought an extension until June 30 to disclose details of Electoral Bonds, citing practical challenges and the complexity of the decoding process. However, the Supreme Court noted that the information should be readily accessible, given that only 39 authorized branches handle Electoral Bond redemptions for political parties.

Today, a bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, pulled up the bank for its inaction over the past 26 days. “SBI is before us. There should be some candour on your part. What have you been doing for the past 26 days? There is no word about that in your application. For every purchase, there was a KYC. So you have the details,” said Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.​