The Election Commission of India recently published the electoral bond data on its website, incorporating the latest information provided by the State Bank of India (SBI). This move was in response to the directives of the Supreme Court, with the Commission stating that the data was uploaded as received from SBI, without any alterations.
According to the Election Commission, SBI furnished the data concerning electoral bonds on March 21, 2024. The Commission promptly uploaded this information on its website, emphasizing that it was presented in its original form as provided by SBI. Included in the uploaded documents are two PDFs containing comprehensive data received from the bank.
The donor list within the disclosed data reveals details such as the bond purchaser’s identity, the bond denomination, and its unique identifier. Similarly, the recipient list delineates the political party that redeemed the bond, along with the last four digits of their bank account number and the bond denomination.
However, SBI chose to withhold complete bank account numbers and KYC (Know Your Customer) details of the political parties redeeming the bonds, citing security concerns. The bank argued that revealing such detailed information could jeopardize the security of the accounts, particularly in terms of cybersecurity threats.
In an affidavit submitted by SBI’s chairperson, Dinesh Kumar Khara, it was clarified that full bank account numbers and KYC details of political parties were not disclosed for security reasons. Additionally, the bank stated that such details were unnecessary for the purpose of identifying the political parties involved.
This disclosure by SBI follows a recent directive from the Supreme Court, which urged the bank to cease its selective approach to releasing information related to the electoral bonds scheme. The court emphasized the necessity for SBI to provide complete disclosure of all relevant details within its possession, leaving no room for doubt.