Contempt plea in Supreme Court against SBI’s prayer for time extension to disclose electoral bonds’ details
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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
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.
Bhushan said the SBI’s plea is likely to be listed on March 11 and the contempt application should also be heard together.
“Please send an e-mail. I will pass the order,” the CJI said.
The SBI moved the top court on March 4, seeking extension of time till June 30 to disclose details of electoral bonds.
In its verdict last month, the top court directed the SBI to furnish the details to the Election Commission (EC) by March 6.
Earlier, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that the electoral bonds scheme defeats the citizen’s right to be informed about sources of funding of political parties which is a fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution.
Commencing the arguments on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the scheme, Bhushan said this “opaque” and “anonymous instrument” promotes corruption in the country and there is a good reason to believe that these bonds are being given by way of kickbacks to parties in power.
Bhushan referred to a chart and said as per the party-wise donations received through electoral bonds until 2021-2022 declared in the audit report, the BJP received Rs 5,271 crore, while the Congress got Rs 952 crore.
Source: Telegraph India
Indian Law Watch 
