State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it has handed over all electoral bond data, including alpha-numeric identification details linked to such bonds, to the Election Commission of India (ECI). ,Association for Democratic Reforms and ANR vs. Union of India Cabinet Secretary and Others)
In a fresh affidavit filed in compliance with the apex court's March 18 order, SBI said all necessary information has been provided to the election body.
The affidavit stated the following:
βIt is worth reiterating that SBI is now disclosing information (along with those already disclosed) which will show:-
A. Name of the purchaser of the bond;
B. Denomination and unique number of the bond;
c. Name of the party who has redeemed the bond;
D. Last four digits of bank account numbers of political parties;
e. Denomination and number of bonds redeemed.β
As per Supreme Court directions, ECI will now have to upload the data on its website.
The Electoral Bond Scheme allowed donors to send money to a political party anonymously after purchasing bearer bonds from SBI.
It was introduced through the Finance Act, 2017, which in turn amended three other statutes β the Reserve Bank of India Act, the Income Tax Act and the Representation of the People Act.
Several petitions were filed before the apex court challenging at least five amendments made to various laws through the Finance Act, 2017 on the grounds that they opened the door to uncontrolled and unregulated financing of political parties. Have given.
Almost seven years later, on February 15, the Court directed the SBI to furnish details of political parties that have received contributions from the Election Commission of India (ECI) through such bonds since April 12, 2019.
The Supreme Court later rejected SBI's request for extension on March 11. rejectedand directed that the following particulars of every electoral bond purchased be furnished;
– buyer name;
– Denomination of electoral bond; And
– Details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties, including date of encashment.
Later, the court on March 15 said that SBI had not disclosed the bond number.
Therefore, it March 18th Directed SBI to disclose all relevant information relating to electoral bonds, including details of alpha numeric numbers associated with such bonds.
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SBI tells Supreme Court it has furnished Electoral Bonds' number and purchaser details to ECI