As the Centre and State Bank of India (SBI) flagged the social media fallout of the Supreme Court’s landmark verdict in the electoral bonds case, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said the court’s “shoulders are broad enough” to tackle such commentary. A five-judge Constitution bench led by the CJI today asked SBI to disclose all details related to electoral bonds. It was hearing petitions that said the state-run bank had released “incomplete data” on political funding through the now-scrapped scheme.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the court must be informed about how its judgment is playing out. “The witch-hunting has started on another level and not at the government level.
Those before the court started giving press interviews, deliberately embarrassing the court. It is not a level playing field. There is a barrage of social media posts intended to cause embarrassment,” he said. The court eventually asked the bank to disclose all details, including the alphanumeric number and serial number, if any, of the bonds redeemed.