The State Bank of India, on Thursday, March 21, submitted all information concerning the electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI), including the all-important unique numbers which would help link the donor and donee.
The Supreme Court, in its March 15th judgement, declared the electoral bonds as unconstitutional and ordered SBI, the only bank where one can purchase bonds, to submit all details relating to it to the election body.
In a compliance affidavit filed ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline set by the apex court, the SBI chairman said the complete bank account numbers and KYC details of the political parties which redeemed the bonds have not been made public as it may compromise the security of these accounts.
The SBI also said KYC details of purchasers have also not been made public for security reasons.
It said complete bank account numbers and KYC details were not necessary for “identifying the political parties”.
The affidavit said the SBI has revealed information which will show the name of the purchaser of the bond, its denomination and specific number, the name of the party that encashed it, the last four digits of the bank account number of political parties that redeemed the bond and the denomination and the unique number of the bond encashed.
On March 17, the election commission made public fresh data on electoral bonds, which it had submitted in sealed covers to the Supreme Court and was later asked to put it in public domain. These details are believed to be pertaining to the period before April 12, 2019. Electoral bond details after this date were made public by the poll panel last week.
An electoral bond allowed individuals, corporations or organisations to contribute or donate money to any political party anonymously by purchasing bonds from the SBI. It was introduced in 2017 under the Narendra Modi government. The expiry date of these bonds is 15 days, after which it will automatically be transferred to the Prime Minister Relief Fund.
