State Bank of India Chairman Files Compliance Affidavit on Electoral Bonds Disclosure
Dinesh Kumar Khara, the Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI), has submitted a compliance affidavit to the Supreme Court, confirming that the SBI has fully disclosed all relevant details concerning Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India, including the unique identification numbers associated with the bonds.
These unique bond numbers facilitate the tracing of bond purchasers to the political parties that have redeemed them.
According to the affidavit, the SBI furnished all pertinent information regarding electoral bonds in its possession to the Election Commission of India on March 21.
The disclosed information encompasses:
- Purchaser Details: Serial number, URN number, Journal Date, Purchase Date, Expiry Date, Purchaser Name, Prefix, Bond Number, Denomination, Issue Branch code, Issue Teller, and Status.
- Redemption Details by Political Parties: Serial Number, Encashment Date, Political Party Name, Last four digits of the account number, Prefix, Bond Number, Denomination, Pay Branch Code, and Pay Teller.
The SBI Chairman clarified that the “prefix and the bond number are indeed alphanumeric.”
The affidavit also noted that complete bank account numbers and KYC details of political parties are not made public to safeguard account security. Similarly, the KYC details of purchasers are withheld, although they are deemed unnecessary for identifying political parties.
The SBI Chairman emphasized that “SBI has now disclosed all details, and no details (other than complete bank account numbers and KYC Details) have been withheld from disclosure.”
Recalling a previous ruling on February 15, where a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court deemed the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional due to concealed donor details, the Court directed the SBI to disclose details of Electoral Bonds sold and redeemed between April 12, 2019, and February 15, 2024, by March 6. Despite the SBI’s request for an extension until June 30, the Court rejected it on March 11 and mandated disclosure to the ECI by the following day.
Subsequently, the SBI disclosed purchaser and recipient details of the bonds. However, on March 15, the Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction with the omission of bond unique numbers, essential for citizens to link donors to political parties. On March 18, the Court reiterated its stance, directing the SBI Chairman to submit a compliance affidavit by today at 5 PM.
The Election Commission of India was instructed to publish the details received from the SBI on its website.
