SBI sends electoral bonds data to Election Commission

State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday evening submitted details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India in compliance with the Supreme Court order.

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered SBI to disclose the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission by close of business hours on March 12.

As per the order, the Election Commission will have to publish the details shared by the bank on its official website by 5 pm on March 15.

According to sources, SBI has complied with the orders of the apex court and submitted the details of the electoral bonds to the Election Commission.

The SBI has issued Electoral Bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore in 30 tranches since the inception of the scheme in 2018.

The Supreme Court, however, in a landmark verdict on February 15 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 recipients.

SBI had sought time till June 30 for disclosure of the details. Its plea, however, was rejected by the apex court, and it asked the bank to submit all details to the Election Commission by the close of working hours on Tuesday.

Electoral bonds were introduced as a substitute for cash donations made to political parties with the aim of enhancing transparency in political funding.

The first sale of electoral bonds took place in March 2018.

Electoral bonds were to be redeemed exclusively by an eligible political party through an authorised bank account, and the State Bank of India (SBI) is the sole authorised bank for issuing these bonds.