ANS: The Election Commission of India has taken a significant step towards transparency in political funding by uploading data on electoral bonds provided by the State Bank of India onto its website. This move comes just a day before the deadline set by the Supreme Court.
e-bonds-Donorwise
e-bonds2-Party wise
The data includes purchases of electoral bonds of three denominations – Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh, and Rs. 1 crore – dating back to April 12, 2019. The information reveals purchases made by both companies and individuals.
The EC’s website now features two lists. The first list includes companies that purchased electoral bonds, along with the denominations and dates of purchase. The second list includes the names of political parties, along with the denominations of the bonds and the dates on which they were encashed. However, there is no way to correlate the lists to determine which company donated to which party.
In a statement, the EC announced the release of the data, stating, “The Election Commission of India has today uploaded the data on electoral bonds on its website as received from SBI on ‘as is where is basis’.” The EC has consistently advocated for disclosure and transparency in this matter, a stance reflected in the Supreme Court’s proceedings and order.
The Chairman of SBI filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court, confirming that the bank has fully complied with the apex court’s order and provided details of electoral bonds to the EC. The details are provided in two separate packets – one containing details of purchasers of electoral bonds, and the other containing names of political parties that encashed the bonds.
The Supreme Court had earlier scrapped the Electoral Bonds scheme on February 15, declaring the issuance of electoral bonds as unlawful. The court directed SBI to stop issuing electoral bonds immediately. Following the court’s directions, SBI disclosed details of political parties that received contributions through electoral bonds, which were to be published by the Election Commission on its website by March 13, 2024.