After complying with the Supreme Court's orders to submit electoral bond data to the Election Commission, the State Bank of India has informed the apex court of their actions. In an affidavit, the bank stated that it had handed over the data within 24 hours after receiving a reprimand from the court. Unfortunately, details for 187 of those bonds were not included, as the associated funds were reportedly deposited in the PM Cares Fund, contrary to the court's instructions that unredeemed bonds should be returned to the original purchasers.
The State Bank of India disclosed in their affidavit that data was delivered in a sealed envelope, containing a password-protected pen drive with two PDF files. However, it was not made clear whether these files include the 'unique code' which can be matched with the purchasing parties' names to determine the exact amounts donated to each political entity.
Details of Remaining Bonds Deposited in PM Relief Fund
The SBI further claimed that certain electoral bonds, which could not be redeemed, were instead cashed in and deposited into the PM Relief Fund. Numbers presented in the affidavit indicate that since April 1, 2019, until February 15, 2024, a sum of 22,217 electoral bonds were sold, out of which 22,030 were cashed by political parties.
As the bank reported, the remaining 187 bonds that were unable to be cashed were therefore not paid out to any party and were routed to the PM Relief Fund. To highlight further, in April 2019, a total of 3,346 bonds were purchased, and out of these, 1,609 were cashed by parties within the same time frame.
Understanding the 15-Day Extension
In November 2022, the Department of Economic Affairs revised the Electoral Bonds Scheme, extending bond sales by an additional 15 days during the year of Lok Sabha elections. This amendment uplifted the previously approved 30-day sale period by an extra 15 days for those specific election years.
State Bank Provides Details to Election Commission
According to the State Bank's affidavit, the Election Commission was provided with details of the bond buyers, dates and values of the bonds purchased, as well as the names of the political parties that cashed the bonds, including their amounts and dates. Media reports suggest that the affidavit did not clarify if the data could be used with the 'unique codes' on each electoral bond to match names with affiliated parties.
