New Delhi: In a recent turn of events, the State Bank of India (SBI) has dutifully submitted the intricate details of purchasers and recipients of the now-defunct electoral bonds to the Election Commission. This move aligns with the Supreme Court’s directive demanding transparency. Just a day prior, the Supreme Court had mandated SBI to unveil the specifics of these electoral bonds to the Election Commission before the end of business on March 12.Sj
Following the judicial order, the Election Commission is set to make these details public on its website by the late afternoon of March 15.
The Election Commission announced, “Adhering to the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s mandate issued to SBI, as per the orders dated February 15 and March 11, 2024, in the case of WPC NO.880 of 2017, we have today received the electoral bonds data from the State Bank of India, on this day, March 12, 2024.”
Insiders confirm that SBI has honored the Supreme Court’s command and has handed over the electoral bonds’ information to the Election Commission.
Since the scheme’s inception in 2018, SBI has rolled out electoral bonds amounting to a staggering Rs 16,518 crore across 30 separate issuances.
However, in a historic decision on February 15, the Supreme Court axed the government’s electoral bonds scheme, which permitted anonymous political contributions, deeming it “unconstitutional.” The court also decreed that the Election Commission must disclose the identities of donors, the sums they contributed, and the beneficiaries.
SBI’s request for an extension until June 30 to reveal these details was overruled by the Supreme Court, which insisted that the bank provide all necessary information to the Election Commission by the end of the working day on Tuesday.
Former finance secretary S C Garg critiqued SBI’s delay tactics in a column, finding it absurd that the bank sought to correlate each electoral bond buyer with the corresponding political party, a step not required by the Supreme Court.
Garg highlighted that these bonds lacked any serial number or identifier, and the purchasing and depositing procedures did not permit SBI to track any specific electoral bond to its buyer or depositor.
Introduced on January 2, 2018, the electoral bonds scheme was touted as a cleaner alternative to cash donations for political parties, aiming to inject transparency into political financing.
The inaugural sale of these electoral bonds occurred in March 2018.
Designed to be redeemed solely by an eligible political party via an authorized bank account, SBI stood as the only bank sanctioned to issue these bonds.
Only an eligible political party could cash these electoral bonds, and that too, exclusively through a bank account held with the authorized bank.
The opportunity to purchase electoral bonds was extended to Indian citizens or entities incorporated within the nation.
Political parties that had garnered at least 1% of the votes in the preceding Lok Sabha or state legislative assembly elections were qualified to receive donations through electoral bonds.
