The State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday, 12 March, submitted details of Centre’s controversial Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India. The EC will now publish the data by 15 March, in compliance with a Supreme Court order.
Also Read: SBI electoral bonds data submitted to Election Commission a day after Supreme Court rebuke
“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 poll panel had said.
Also Read: SC Bar Association writes to President Murmu, says ‘if donors are singled out …’
The SC had instructed SBI to provide information to EC following the correlation of donor data with political party affiliations. Electoral Bonds Scheme allows anonymous funding to political parties.
In a landmark verdict delivered on February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench had scrapped the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordered disclosure by the EC of donors.
Also Read: 22,217 bonds purchased of which 22,030 redeemed, says SBI in its compliance affidavit
SBI Electoral Bonds case: What comes next?
The Election Commission will publish the data on their website. The publication of electoral bonds data by the poll panel assumes significance as it will be released ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The data provided to EC by SBI contains details, including date of purchase of each electoral bond, names of the purchaser and the denomination of the bonds purchased have been furnished.
Also Read: When will Election Commission disclose electoral bonds data?
Notably, most details about electoral bonds redemption is available to the public. However, the related donor data was hidden, owing to the anonymity factor of the scheme.
However, once the data is published on the EC website, we will get to know who received the donations on which date and the amount. The bonds data will reveal the list of recipients.
Also Read: A timeline of what has happened so far
If a company named ‘A’ bought electoral bonds worth ₹1,000 and a political party ‘B’ received bonds worth the same amount, we cannot say that ‘A’ donated ₹1,000 to ‘B’.
SBI Electoral Bonds Case: Highlights
The SBI submitted its data to EC on Tuesday. The data stated:
-A total of 22,217 electoral bonds were purchased by donors between April 1, 2019 and February 15 this year, out of which 22,030 were redeemed by political parties
Also Read: SCBA denies authorizing President Adish Aggarwala to intervene in electoral bonds verdict
-The affidavit said between April 1, 2019 to April 11, 2019, a total of 3,346 electoral bonds were purchased and 1,609 redeemed.
-It further said from April 12, 2019 to February 15 this year, a total of 18,871 electoral bonds were purchased and 20,421 were redeemed.
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Published: 13 Mar 2024, 10:29 PM IST