SBI must disclose Electoral Bond purchase and redemption details by March 12, 2024 after extension rejected

The SC dismissed SBI's application seeking extension until 30 June 2024 for disclosing Electoral Bond details. The Court directed SBI to disclose purchase and redemption information by close of business on 12 March 2024. The case involved constitutional validity of the Electoral Bond Scheme and Finance Act 2017 amendments affecting political party funding disclosure under citizens' right to information. ECI was ordered to publish on its official website the information previously supplied to the Court during proceedings. The extension application was rejected despite SBI's argument that matching contributor information across separate data systems was time-consuming.

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Issues Involved:
1. Constitutionality of the Electoral Bond Scheme and amendments introduced by the Finance Act 2017.
2. Compliance with the Supreme Court's directions regarding the disclosure of Electoral Bond details by the State Bank of India (SBI).

Issue 1: Constitutionality of the Electoral Bond Scheme
The Supreme Court, in its judgment dated 15 February 2024, declared the Electoral Bond Scheme and the provisions of the Finance Act 2017 unconstitutional. The Court held that the non-disclosure of information regarding the funding of political parties violated the right to information of citizens under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Additionally, the amendments to the Companies Act 2013, which permitted unlimited funding of political parties by corporate entities, were deemed arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

Issue 2: Compliance with Supreme Court's Directions
To implement the judgment, the Court directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to submit details of Electoral Bonds purchased and redeemed between 12 April 2019 and 15 February 2024. The SBI was instructed to provide the Election Commission of India (ECI) with:
- Details of each Electoral Bond purchased, including the date of purchase, the name of the purchaser, and the denomination of the bond.
- Details of each Electoral Bond redeemed by political parties, including the date of encashment and the denomination of the bond.

The ECI was then directed to publish this information on its website by 13 March 2024.

SBI's Request for Extension
SBI filed a Miscellaneous Application seeking an extension of time until 30 June 2024 to comply with the Court's directions. SBI argued that the process of "decoding the Electoral Bonds and matching the donor to the donations" was complex and time-consuming due to:
- Information not being available in a digital format.
- Donor details and recipient details being maintained in two separate silos.
- A large number of data sets to decipher (22,217 bonds purchased, resulting in 44,434 data sets).

Court's Evaluation and Decision
The Court evaluated SBI's submission and noted that the information required was readily available, albeit maintained in separate silos. The Court dismissed SBI's request for an extension, directing SBI to disclose the details by 12 March 2024 and the ECI to publish the information by 15 March 2024.

Contempt Jurisdiction
The petitioners, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), had invoked the contempt jurisdiction against SBI for willful disobedience of the Court's order. However, the Court decided not to exercise this jurisdiction at this stage, considering SBI's application for an extension. The Court warned SBI of potential contempt proceedings for willful disobedience if it failed to comply with the directions by the specified timelines.

Conclusion
The Miscellaneous Application for extension of time was dismissed, and the Contempt Petitions were disposed of. Pending applications, if any, were also disposed of.

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