Yesterday, the State Bank of India (SBI) submitted details regarding electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India in compliance with the recent judgment and order of the Supreme Court. As part of this process, an affidavit has been filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of SBI. The affidavit provides information on the number of electoral bonds purchased since 2019, as well as the number of bonds that have been encashed, which is an important detail.
What is an Electoral Bond?
In India, the government donates to parties through electoral bonds. Those who want to donate to specific parties can purchase election bonds from SBI Bank and donate through it. The names of the donors are not known.
Electoral Bond Submission:
The Supreme Court, on March 11, ordered SBI to disclose the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by the close of business hours on March 12.
Information related to election bonds sold from April 12, 2019, to February 15, 2024, should be provided to the Election Commission of India by April 6. The Election Commission said that it should be published on the website. However, SBI approached the Supreme Court, seeking time to provide the details.
SBI had sought time till June 30 for disclosure of the details. Its plea, however, was rejected by the court. The Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission to provide the details by April 12.
SBI Election Bond Submission:
Subsequently, SBI said that it has provided the information related to the election bond to the Election Commission and has provided the information related to the election bond to the Election Commission.
An affidavit regarding the election bond was submitted today on behalf of the State Bank of India (SBI) in the Supreme Court. It has been reported that, in compliance with the Supreme Court's order, the election papers' details have been filed with the Election Commission.
It also informed the court that a total number of 22,217 bonds were purchased during the period from April 1, 2019, to February 15, 2024, out of which 22,030 electoral bonds were redeemed.
