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State Bank of India (SBI) said on Thursday that it will follow the Supreme Court's order and disclose the details of the electoral bonds to the country's election commission. In a landmark verdict just months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Supreme Court on Thursday scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and ordering disclosure of the bond's donors, amount and recipients by March 13.
“The process has been laid out that we will disclose the details to the election commission and they will host it on their site. We will have to follow the process that has been laid out by the SC,” a top official said on the condition of anonymity.
“It is a court decision, there is no interpretation,” the official said.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud barred SBI from any further issuance of electoral bonds. The top court has asked the country’s largest lender to submit the details of the electoral bonds purchased since the interim court order of April 12, 2019 till date to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The details should include the date of purchase of the bond, denomination of the bond and the name of the buyers.
The electoral bonds – which are bearer bonds – are encashed by an eligible political party only through a bank account with the authorised bank – which is SBI. The court has also asked SBI to submit the details of political parties that have received contributions through such bonds since the interim order of April 2019.
SBI will have to submit all this information to the ECI by March 6, 2024.
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“We have all the information…just that it is very confidential, only the respective branches have the data,” the official said. A total of 29 branches of SBI located in different states issue electoral bonds in the country.
The top court also said electoral bonds which are within the validity period of 15 days but which have not been encashed by the political parties yet shall be returned by the political party to the purchaser. The issuing bank shall then refund the amount to the purchaser's account.
SBI said a refund should not be an issue as the bank has the information of the buyer.
"This was not taken as cash, it was only by cheque. So it is properly documented. We know who has bought the bond and for which party. So a refund should not be a problem,” the official added.
