New Delhi
In a sworn affidavit filed on Wednesday, the State Bank of India (SBI) informed the Supreme Court (SC) that it has provided Electoral Bonds data to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in digital format.
The affidavit, signed by the SBI Chairman, revealed that the bank handed a sealed envelope to the poll body before Tuesday’s business hours, containing two PDF files. One file contains details of Electoral Bond purchasers, while the other lists political parties that encashed these Bonds, as per the Constitution Bench’s requirements. The data covers bonds bought and redeemed between April 1, 2019, and February 15, 2024. During this period, 22,217 bonds were purchased, and 22,030 were redeemed by political parties.
Any un-encashed bonds within the 15-day validity period were transferred to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, per a 2018 gazette notification. The Supreme Court previously rejected SBI’s plea to extend the March 6 deadline for data submission. In its February 15 ruling, the SC declared the Electoral Bonds Scheme, 2018 unconstitutional and ordered SBI to cease issuance immediately. It mandated SBI to disclose details of each enchased Electoral Bond, including date and denomination, to the ECI within three weeks.
