NEW DELHI: A petition filed by the Election Commission of India (EC) seeking a direction for the return of sealed cover boxes concerning the electoral bonds case will be heard by a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Friday.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, is scheduled to hear the EC’s plea at 10.30 am.
In its application, the EC stated that it has not retained any copies of those documents to maintain confidentiality. Consequently, it has requested the Supreme Court to return the sealed cover documents so that they can be uploaded on its website in compliance with the court’s order of March 11.
The EC approached the top court after noting that in the March 11 order, the court observed, “Copies of the statements filed by the EC before this court would be maintained in the Office of the EC.”
Hence, the EC filed an application, stating that it has not retained any copies of the documents and sought a modification of the above observation in the March 11 order.
On March 11, the five-judge Constitution bench directed the State Bank of India to disclose the electoral bonds data to the EC by March 12. It dismissed the bank’s plea for an extension of time until June 30 to disclose the data to the EC. It also directed the EC to upload the data on its website by March 15.
Also in top court
Hearing against CEC selection panel today
The SC will hear on Friday pleas challenging the Chief Election Commissioner Act, 2023, dropping the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel that appoints Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners. Several petitionershave challenged the Act in top court.