LexSTATE BANK OF INDIA versus ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS AND OTHERS
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[2024] 3 S.C.R. 637 : 2024 INSC 195 State Bank of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms and Others (Miscellaneous Application No 486 of 2024 In Writ Petition (Civil) No 880 of 2017) WITH (Contempt Petition (Civil) No 138 of 2024 In Writ Petition (Civil) No 880 of 2017) & (Contempt Petition (Civil) No 140 of 2024 In Writ Petition (Civil) No 59 of 2018) 11 March 2024 [Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, CJI, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, JJ.] Issue for Consideration This case pertains to a Miscellaneous Application filed by the State Bank of India (SBI) seeking an extension of time until 30 June 2024 - two days before the expiry of the stipulated deadline - for complying with the directions given by the Supreme Court in its judgment dated 15 February 2024. Vide the aforesaid judgment, the Court had directed the SBI, which was the authorized Bank to deal with Electoral Bonds under the Electoral Bond Scheme, to, inter alia, submit to the Election Commission of India (ECI), details of the Electoral Bonds purchased by the contributors and redeemed by political parties between 12 April 2019 till the date of the judgment, by 6 March 2024. The Petitioners in this case - Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) - instituted a petition invoking the contempt jurisdiction of this Court against SBI for wilful disobedience of the order of this Court; Whether the directions issued by the Court required the SBI to disclose information which is readily available with it; as also, Whether the SBI is justified in seeking an extension of time. 638 [2024] 3 S.C.R. Digital Supreme Court Reports Headnotes Electoral Bonds – Directions to SBI in judgment dated 15 February 2024 – submission of the following details to the ECI by 6 March 2024: (a) Details of each Electoral Bond purchased including the date of purchase, the name of the purchaser and the denomination of the Electoral Bond; (b) Details of each Electoral Bond redeemed by political parties including the date of encashment and the denomination of the Electoral Bond – ECI to collate the information to be submitted by the SBI and publish it on its website by 13 March 2024 [Paras 1-4] Electoral Bonds – Extension of Time for Compliance with Court Directions – SBI prayed for extension of time until 30 June 2024 for complying with the directions because: information received by SBI maintained in two separate silos – Per SBI, direction of this Court require a matching exercise – of the details of donor and recipient political parties with respect to a particular bond – Clause 7(4), Electoral Bond Scheme – Electoral Bond information shall be disclosed when called upon to do so by a competent court [Para 6-7] Electoral Bonds – Matching of information – SBI submitted information is not available in a digital format centrally – Donor details and the recipient details are available in two separate silos – At the end of each phase, details of the purchasers of Electoral Bonds and information on the redemption of Electoral Bonds (stored in a sealed cover and sent to the SBI, Mumbai Branch – Matching of information in the two silos is a time- consuming process – Large number of data sets to decipher: total of 22,217 bonds were purchased between 12 April 2019 to 15 February 2024 – Total 44,434 data sets [Para 8] Electoral Bonds – SBI MA dismissed – FAQs on Electoral Bonds-Details of Purchasers readily available – Information about a political party’s encashment readily available – Court not inclined to exercise the contempt jurisdiction at this stage in the Petitioners’ contempt petition Held: Operative directions of this Court directed the SBI to disclose the transactions as set out in direction (b) and direction (c) of para 219 of the Judgment – SBI submits that donor details and redemption details are available in separate silos – The directions which have been issued by this Court require the SBI to disclose [2024] 3 S.C.R. 639 State Bank of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms and Others the information which is readily available with it – FAQs on Electoral Bonds published by the SBI – ‘Know Your Customer’ documents must be submitted by the purchaser each time the Electoral Bond is purchased, irrespective of whether the purchaser has a KYC verified SBI account – One set of documents can only be used to purchase one Electoral Bond – Contributors wh
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