 "SBI, state bank of india")
A day after submitting details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India, the State Bank of India filed a compliance affidavit in the electoral bonds case. In the affidavit, the SBI shared details of bonds purchased and redeemed till February 15, 2024.
According to reports, the public lender informed that between April 1 and April 11, 2019, 3,346 electoral bonds were purchased, and 1,609 bonds were redeemed. From April 12, 2019, to February 15, 2024, 18,871 electoral bonds were purchased, and 20,421 bonds were redeemed, the SBI data revealed.
The Supreme Court, on March 11, had ordered SBI to disclose the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by close of business hours on March 12. The public bank complied with the order and submitted the details. As per the order, the Election Commission will have to publish the details shared by the bank on its official website by 5 pm on March 15.
In a landmark verdict on February 15, a five-judge constitution bench of the apex court had scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and ordering disclosure by the Election Commission of the donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients by March 13. SBI had sought time till June 30 for disclosure of the details.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for SBI, said the bank was finding the job of reconciling the donor details with the redemption details challenging because they were stored in separate information silos.
The apex court rejected its plea, however. The CJI pointed out that the court's direction did not require the bank to conduct a "matching exercise" but simply to disclose the information. The CJI noted that the bank had all the necessary details, as evidenced by its KYC records.
