The State Bank of India (SBI) submitted all the details of electoral bonds, including their unique numbers, with the Election Commission of India (ECI), the bank said in its affidavit submitted in Supreme Court.
AMN / NEW DELHI
The State Bank of India today informed the Supreme Court that it has submitted all details on electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India – in line with the court’s directions.
In an affidavit filed before the top court, the SBI chairman said that “on 21.03.2024, the State Bank of India has provided/disclosed all details of the electoral bonds which are in its possession and custody to the Election Commission of India”.
It said that “the information disclosed includes” details of the purchaser like serial number, URN number, journal date, date of purchase, bond number, status, date of expiry, name of the purchaser, prefix, bond number, denomination, issue branch code, issue teller and status.
Complete bank account numbers and KYC details of the political parties have not being made public as it may compromise the security of the account (cyber security),” the affidavit filed by SBI said.
“Similarly, KYC details of purchasers are also not being made public for security reasons, apart from the fact that such information is not fed/collated in the system. However, they are not necessary for identifying the political
“It is respectfully submitted that SBI has now disclosed all details and that no details (other than complete account numbers & KYC details) have been withheld from disclosure in terms of the directions contained inâ€æ the judgment dated February 15, 2024 read with order dated March 18, 2024 passed by this court,” the affidavit concluded.
The details shared by SBI today are expected to be uploaded by the Election Commission on its website shortly.
On March 18, the top court had rapped SBI for being ‘selective’ and not making a complete disclosure of details of the electoral bonds which are in its possession. The top court had said the details to be disclosed must include the unique bond numbers that would match the buyers with the recipient political parties.
Delivering a landmark verdict on February 15, the Supreme Court scrapped Center’s contentious electoral bonds scheme, which permitted anonymous political financing, deeming it ‘unconstitutional’.
The top court then asked Election Commission to disclose all the details of electoral bonds, including donors, amount donated by them and the recipients, by March 13.