The State Bank of India (SBI) has submitted comprehensive data related to Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday, following a stringent directive from the Supreme Court issued just a day prior. The information, deemed crucial for ensuring transparency in political funding, details the transactions involving the sale and purchase of Electoral Bonds.
Insiders revealed to India Today TV that the data provided by SBI is raw and extensively outlines the purchasers of the bonds, the amounts, and the political beneficiaries. This move by SBI comes as part of the compliance with the Supreme Court’s firm order, which refused to grant an extension requested by the bank for disclosing this data.
The process of making this data public is underway, with the ECI set to release the complete details on its official website by the evening of March 15. This step aligns with the Supreme Court’s mandate, which emphasizes the importance of transparency in electoral funding.
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, leading the Supreme Court bench, dismissed SBI’s plea for additional time and instructed the bank to furnish the details to the ECI by the end of business hours on March 12. The Court also ordered the ECI to publish this information online by 5 pm on March 15, making it accessible to the public.
The Supreme Court criticized SBI’s delay in disclosing the electoral bonds data, attributing it to “willful disobedience” of its order and cautioning against potential contempt proceedings. SBI had argued that the process of compiling and verifying the data, stored separately to maintain confidentiality, was complex and time-consuming. However, the Court clarified that the bank was not required to cross-verify donor details with other data, but simply needed to collate and share the information with the ECI.
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Electoral Bonds were introduced as a means to curb cash donations to political parties and enhance transparency in political funding. Since its inception in 2018, SBI has issued Electoral Bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore across 30 tranches. Despite these measures, the Supreme Court’s recent judgment declared the electoral bond scheme unconstitutional, stating it infringed upon the right to information of the citizens, casting a shadow on the scheme’s intent to bring about transparency in political donations.
