The State Bank of India (SBI) has submitted a compliance affidavit in the Supreme Court, saying all details on electoral bonds including the unique alphanumeric numbers have been given to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
SBI clarified that it has not excluded any detail from the disclosure, according to the affidavit.
The apex court on March 18 directed the country's largest lender to divulge all details regarding the electoral bonds, including the unique bond numbers, before 5 pm on March 21.
The ECI will now have to publish the details furnished by SBI on its website.
Electoral Bonds: State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman files compliance affidavit in Supreme Court saying that all details of Electoral Bonds, including the alphanumeric numbers, have been disclosed to the Election Commission.On March 21, 2024, the SBI provided /disclosed all… pic.twitter.com/6D2UC0QjDH — ANI (@ANI) March 21, 2024
In a landmark judgement on February 15, the Supreme Court annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding, saying it violates the Constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information.
The top Court ordered SBI to disclose to the EC the names of the contributors to the six-year-old scheme.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud directed that the SBI must disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties.
Accordingly, SBI furnished electoral details to the EC and on March 14, the latter published those details.
On March 17, the EC released further information regarding electoral bonds, including information on the amount redeemed per political party.
The electoral bonds scheme was introduced on January 2, 2018. Electoral bonds were pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding.
As per the EC data, BJP encashed electoral bonds totalling Rs 6,986.5 crore; maximum Rs 2,555 crore received in 2019-20 and Congress redeemed a total of Rs 1,334.35 crore through electoral bonds.
Trinamool Congress received Rs 1,397 crore through electoral bonds, making it the second largest recipient after BJP. BRS was the fourth largest recipient through electoral bonds, encashed bonds worth Rs 1,322 crore.
(With inputs from agencies)Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
Find the best of Al News in one place, specially curated for you every weekend.
Stay on top of the latest tech trends and biggest startup news.
