Two pdf files in a pen drive, password in a separate envelope: How SBI shared electoral bonds data

SBI

To comply with a strict order from the country’s top court, India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on March 12 shared the electoral bonds data in two separate password protected pdf files stored in a pendrive.

A separate envelope contained the passwords to open these pdf files, according to a letter written by SBI’s deputy managing director to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India.

The first pdf file contained the details of purchasers and the second containing the names of political parties who encashed these bonds, according to the letter made available as part of the affidavit filed by SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara in the Supreme Court.

As per the letter, the amount of electoral bonds which were not encashed by the political parties within the validity period of 15 days during this period have been transferred to  Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

The files contain details of the electoral bonds purchased since the interim order of the Supreme Court dated 12 April, 2019 till date. The details also include the date of purchase of electoral bonds, the name of the purchaser of the bond and the denomination of the electoral bonds purchased.

The Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reacted to the submission by the State Bank of India and said the data has been shared in time, and will be disclosed suitably. The Election Commission has been in favour of transparency and that has been the stand in the electoral bonds case, Rajiv Kumar added.

It also includes the details of the political parties which have received contributions since 12 April, 2019. A total of 22,217 electoral bonds were purchased during the period of a April, 2019 till 15 February 2024. Within this, 3,346 bonds were purchased between 1 April , 2019 and 11 April, 2019 and out of these 1,609 bonds were redeemed. Further, 18,871 bonds were purchased between 12 April, 2019 and 15 February, 2024, according to the affidavit. Of this, 20,421 bonds were redeemed. Thus, of the total 22217 bonds purchased, 22, 030 bonds were redeemed.

On March 11, the Supreme Court dismissed the request of SBI seeking extension till June 30, 2024 to disclose details of electoral bonds encashed by political parties, including the date of encashment and the denomination of the electoral bond. SBI has been directed to disclose details by the close of business hours of March 12.

The apex court had directed the bank to disclose details of the bonds encashed by political parties to the Election Commission by the close of the business hours on March 12, warning the country's largest public sector lender that the court may proceed against it for "wilful disobedience" if it failed to comply with its directions and deadlines.

A five-judge bench of the court, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, on March 11 said it had asked the SBI to do a “plain disclosure” as per the court's judgment. The top court also directed the Election Commission to publish information shared by SBI by 5 PM on March 15. Furthermore, the chairman and managing director of the bank has been asked to file an affidavit after the details are submitted and warned him of contempt action if the order is not complied with.

During the course of the hearing, SC noted that SBI's plea doesn't disclose what has been done in the 26 days since its February 11 order. Further the SC expressed its displeasure over a Assistant General Manager (AGM) filing an application to vary an order of the constitution bench.

While the apex court directed SBI to disclose details of electoral bonds by March 6, the bank, in its plea filed on March 4, contended that there are certain practical difficulties with the decoding exercise and the timeline fixed for it. The plea further stated that due to the stringent measures the bank had adopted to keep the names of the donors anonymous, “decoding” the electoral bonds and the matching of the donor to the donations made would be a 'complex process'.

SBI had, in its plea, told the apex court that details of purchases of electoral bonds at the branches are not maintained centrally at any one place but in two different silos. "No central database was maintained. This was done so as to ensure that donors’ anonymity would be protected," the bank said in its plea.

The bank told Supreme Court that, "retrieval of information from each silo and the procedure of matching the information of one silo to that of the other would be a time consuming exercise". Furthermore, the bank stated that donor details are kept in sealed covers, which are deposited in the main branch in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the petitioner in the electoral bonds case - Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M) filed contempt petitions against SBI for not complying with the court’s order.

In February 2024, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment delivered a big blow to the government and 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 Supreme Court judgement had directed SBI to submit details of the bond to the Election Commission (EC) by March 6. The EC was to publish the list of beneficiaries by March 13.