All of the information on electoral bonds that political parties have redeemed since April 12, 2019, was sent by the State Bank of India (SBI) to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday.
Following the Supreme Court’s Monday decision, which said that the data must be given by 5:30 p.m. today, the data was sent to the ECI.
Additionally, ECI was instructed by the Court to gather and post the data on its website by Friday, March 15th.
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a request from the State Bank of India to prolong the deadline established by the Supreme Court for providing electoral bond data.
The Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench unanimously invalidated the Electoral Bonds Scheme on February 15 and ordered SBI to provide the ECI with a list of all political parties that have received electoral bond donations from April 12, 2019.
In that judgment, the Court directed that the SBI provide the ECI with information of each election bond redeemed by political parties by March 6.
The following were the details that SBI had to furnish:
– Purchased electoral bonds details
– Purchaser name
– Bond denomination
-Political party redemption details with Date.
After receiving this information from the SBI, the ECI had to put it on its official website within a week.
However, the SBI subsequently filed a plea with the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the deadline till June 30 in accordance with the directives.
The Supreme Court denied the case on March 11 and ordered that the information be sent to ECI by 5.30 p.m. today.
The electoral bonds system enabled contributors to anonymously donate contributions to a political party by purchasing bearer bonds from the State Bank of India (SBI).
It was established by the Finance Act of 2017, which changed three other statutes: the Reserve Bank of India Act, the Income Tax Act, and the Representation of People Act.
A number of petitions were submitted to the Supreme Court contesting at least five changes made to several legislation by the Finance Act of 2017, arguing that these changes have allowed political parties to receive unrestricted and limitless financing.
The Court dismissed the scheme after reaching the same conclusion on 15th February,2024.