New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Monday appointed a lawyer during the Supreme Court’s hearing on the electoral bonds case. “Don’t shout at me,” the CJI told the lawyer.
A five-judge Constitution bench, consisting of CJI Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was hearing a batch of petitions on the scrapped electoral scheme bonds when the incident took place.
Read here: Electoral Bonds: Supreme Court rebukes SBI, says don’t be ‘selective’
Per a viral video, CJI Chandrachud scolded advocate Mathews Nedumpara and told him not to raise his voice.
“Don’t shout at me! This is not a Hyde Park corner meeting, you are in the court. You want to move an application, file an application. You have got my decision as Chief Justice, we are not hearing you. If you want to file an application, move it to the email. That’s the rule in this court,” he said.
The advocate was asserting that the entire judgment in the electoral bonds case was delivered without the knowledge of the citizens.
He said, “It was not a justiciable issue at all. This was a policy matter and not for the courts to get into. That is why people feel this judgment was given behind their back.”
The CJI kept asking the advocate to pause and listen to him. Despite the warning, the advocate persisted. At this point, Justice Gavai intervened: “You are obstructing in the process of administration of justice! You want contempt notice?”
After the stern warning, the lawyer appeared to calm down.
Meanwhile, the top court directed the SBI to disclose all details to the Election Commission of India which are in its possession, including the Electoral Bonds’ unique alphanumeric numbers corresponding to each bond. It asked SBI’s Chairman to file a compliance affidavit 5 pm of March 21.
Read here: Electoral bonds: A key poll plan for anti-BJP forces
The apex court further asked the Election Commission to upload the details on its website forthwith upon receipt of information from the SBI.
The Supreme Court in its February 15 judgment mandated the SBI to disclose all details including the date of purchase/redemption, name of purchaser/recipient, and the denomination of electoral bonds.
According to the data released by the Election Commission of India on its website last week, the BJP encashed ₹6,060 crore over five years through the electoral bonds scheme.
A total of 1,260 companies and people have bought 22,217 bonds worth ₹12,155.51 between 2019 and 2024. 23 political parties have redeemed these bonds, while Future Gaming and Hotel Services and Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd were among the top donors to political parties, the data revealed.
