22,217 poll bonds purchased from Apr 1, 2019 to Feb 15: SBI
The names of the purchaser and the denomination of the bonds purchased have been furnished to the Election Commission of India as per the court’s direction.
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NEW DELHI: The State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that a total of 22,217 electoral bonds were purchased by donors between April 1, 2019 and February 15 this year, out of which 22,030 were redeemed by political parties.
In a compliance affidavit filed in the apex court, the SBI said details, including date of purchase of each electoral bond, the names of the purchaser and the denomination of the bonds purchased have been furnished to the Election Commission of India as per the court’s direction.
The affidavit filed by bank chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said it has also furnished details like the date of encashment of the electoral bonds, the names of parties that received the contributions and the denominations of the bonds.
“A total number of 22,217 bonds were purchased during the period April 1, 2019, till February 15, 2024… The SBI has ready records in which the date of purchase, denomination and name of the buyer were recorded, and (in relation to the political parties) the date of encashment and the denominations of the bonds encashed were recorded,” the affidavit said.
It said a record was given to the commission by hand delivering in digital form (password protected).
“As per [the] direction, the date of purchase of each electoral bond, the name of the purchaser and the denomination of the electoral bond purchased has been furnished… the date of encashment of the electoral bonds, the name of political parties who have received the contributions and the denomination of the said bonds has also been furnished,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit also contains as annexure a copy of the letter as proof of service of data sent by the SBI to EC.
“The amount of the electoral bonds which were not encashed by the political party within the validity period of 15 days during this period have been transferred to Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, as per the Gazette notification no.20 dated January 2, 2018,” reads the letter sent by the SBI to the poll panel.
In a landmark verdict delivered on February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench had scrapped the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordered disclosure by the EC of donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients by March 13.
