The State Bank of India (SBI) informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it has provided details of the purchase and redemption of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI) as per the court’s directives.
The data provided by SBI covers electoral bonds purchased and redeemed between April 12, 2019, and February 15, 2024. It was handed over to the ECI in a pen drive with two password-protected PDF documents, along with an envelope containing the passwords, addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
ECI sources indicate that a committee will be set up to review the PDF files on Thursday, and the data will be uploaded on the ECI website in the same format as shared by SBI. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, currently overseeing election preparedness in Jammu and Kashmir, is expected to return to office on Thursday morning.
In its compliance affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, SBI disclosed that it has submitted the names of the buyers of the electoral bonds, along with the date of purchase and denomination. Additionally, the bank has also provided details of the political parties that have redeemed the bonds, including the date and denomination. However, the affidavit did not mention whether the unique code on each electoral bond, which could be used to match each donation to the receiving party, is part of the data provided.
The affidavit stated that the SBI has detailed records of the date of purchase, denomination, and buyer’s name, as well as the date of encashment and denominations of the bonds encashed by political parties. The bank ensured that this information was made available to the ECI in digital form before the end of business hours on March 12, 2024.
