NEW DELHI: State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday evening submitted details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India in compliance with the Supreme Court order.
In one of its posts in the platform 'X' the ECI said, “In compliance of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directions to the SBI, contained in its order dated Feb 15 & March 11, 2024 (in the matter of WPC NO.880 of 2017), data on electoral bonds has been supplied by the State Bank of India to the Election Commission of India, today, March 12, 2024.”
The apex court on Monday ordered the SBI to disclose the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by the close of business hours on March 12.
In the same order, the court mentioned that the Election Commission will have to publish the details shared by the bank on its official website by 5 pm on March 15.
The SBI has issued Electoral Bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore in 30 tranches since the inception of the scheme in 2018.
The details of the data include information relating to the date of purchase of each electoral bond, the name of the purchaser, and the denomination of the bonds purchased.
Additionally, details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties, including the date of encashment.
In a landmark verdict on February 15, the Supreme Court had scrapped the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordered disclosure by the EC of donors, the amount donated by them and recipients.
The SBI had sought time till June 30 for disclosure of the details. But the apex court rejected the SBI’s plea and asked the bank to submit all details to the Election Commission by the close of working hours on Tuesday.
Electoral bonds were introduced as a substitute for cash donations made to political parties with the aim of enhancing transparency in political funding. The first sale of electoral bonds took place in March 2018.
Electoral bonds were to be redeemed exclusively by an eligible political party through an authorised bank account, and the SBI had been designated the sole authorised bank for issuing these bonds.
