Rama Krishna Sangem
Finally, the Election Commission of India has released the full list of electoral bonds with codes of their beneficiaries and donors. This is in compliance of Supreme Court which struck down the bonds scheme, introduced five years ago and ordered for disclosure of all details of them. Full list is placed on EC website, with link https://eci.gov.in/candidate-politicalparty
The EC, on March 21, Thursday, released the electoral bonds data, including bond numbers provided by the State Bank of India (SBI), in compliance with the directives of the Supreme Court (SC). According to an affidavit submitted to the SC, the chairman of SBI Dinesh Kumar Khara stated that as of March 21, 2024, the bank has furnished all pertinent details of electoral bonds under its possession and supervision to the ECI.
The disclosed information encompasses the redemption particulars of political parties, comprising serial numbers, encashment dates, party names, the last four digits of account numbers, prefixes, bond numbers, denominations, pay branch codes, and pay tellers. It was further clarified that the alphanumeric code encompasses both the prefix and bond number.
SC pushes for all details
The apex court, on Monday (March 18), had directed the bank to “disclose all details” on electoral bonds purchased or redeemed after its April 12, 2019 interim order, including their unique alphanumeric codes, to the Election Commission of India (ECI), and to file an affidavit on compliance by March 21, 5 pm.
In the affidavit submitted with SC on Thursday, the SBI said, “The SBI is now revealing information (along with that already disclosed) which will show: a) The name of the purchaser of the bond; b) The denomination and specific number of the bond; c) The name of the party that has encashed the bond; d) Last four digits of the bank account number of political parties; e) The denomination and number of the bond encashed.”
On February 15, the SC invalidated the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018, citing a breach of the Right to Information. This scheme had allowed entities donating to political parties to maintain anonymity.
