The Election Commission of India (ECI) has complied with the Supreme Court's order by publishing electoral bond data shared by the State Bank of India (SBI) on its official website. Remarkably, this publication occurred a day ahead of the Supreme Court's deadline.
The data, which spans from April 12, 2019, onwards, includes details of the purchase of electoral bonds ranging from denominations of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore. It also reveals both individual and corporate purchases, as well as the political parties that received funds through these bonds, including the BJP, Congress, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, and others.
The State Bank of India submitted this information to the Election Commission, as mandated by the Supreme Court's order, by Tuesday evening. This move followed the Supreme Court's directive to disclose donors, donation amounts, and recipients of electoral bonds, declaring the scheme unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court rejected the SBI's request for an extension until June 30 to disclose the details and instructed the bank to submit all information to the Election Commission by the end of the working day on March 12.
The SBI has issued electoral bonds totaling Rs 16,518 crore across 30 tranches since the inception of the scheme in 2018. However, with the scheme now invalidated by the Supreme Court, the disclosure of donor information marks a significant step towards transparency in political funding.
