SBI Electoral Bonds: After Supreme Court Rap, the Largest Public Sector Bank Submits Data to Poll Panel

SBI Electoral Bond: The State Bank of India (SBI) filed an affidavit today stating that it has provided the Election Commission of India (EC) with information regarding the bonds, two days following a ruling by the Supreme Court in the electoral bonds case. According to the SBI's compliance document, the data was sent in a pen drive to the poll body. It has stated that the information is contained in two password-protected PDF files.

Electoral Bond Issuance Statistics

In its affidavit, the bank further states that 22,217 electoral bonds were issued in total between April 2019 and February 15, 2024, prior to the Supreme Court's invalidation of the programme. Political parties redeemed 22,030 bonds out of this.

According to regulations, the remaining 187, according to the bank, were redeemed, and the proceeds were placed in the national assistance fund of the prime minister. Donors may buy electoral bonds to make donations to the parties of their choice under the now-canceled electoral bonds programme. However, the bonds had to be redeemed by the parties within 15 days, or else the money would be transferred to the Prime Minister's relief fund.

Landmark Supreme Court Ruling

The Supreme Court ruled on February 15 that the electoral bonds programme was "unconstitutional" and "violates the right to information of citizens, about possible quid pro quo" between donors and political parties. This decision was a landmark ruling. SBI was directed to cease issuing the bonds right away and provide the EC with the donation information, which would make them public.

Timeline for Data Disclosure

The EC was directed to make the data public by March 13; the court had given SBI till March 6 to submit the information. However, the bank asked the court to grant an extension through June 30. The Association for Democratic Reforms, one of the petitioners who had opposed the electoral bonds plan, contested this. The SBI's plea was denied by the court on Monday, and it was instructed to provide the information by Tuesday. The data must now be uploaded to the EC's website by Friday at 5 p.m.

Senior Advocate's Testimony

Senior Advocate Harish Salve, who appeared before SBI, stated that the bank had adhered to SOP in order to retain data on the electoral bonds programme outside of the main banking system. "I have full details on who purchased the bond and I have full details from where the money came from and which political party tendered how much. I have to also now put the name of purchasers. The names have to be collated, crosschecked with the bond numbers."

Court's Clarification on Matching Exercise

The court retorted that it had not requested that the bank match the contributions made by the donors with the sum that political parties received. "We have not asked you to do the matching exercise. So to seek time saying that a matching exercise is to be done is not warranted, we have not directed you to do that," Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said.