The story so far: Following a stern directive from the Supreme Court, the State Bank of India (SBI) released all details of the electoral bond scheme, except donors’ bank account numbers and their Know Your Customer (KYC) details to the Election Commission (EC), which has now published it on its website. Last month, the apex court deemed the ‘Electoral Bonds scheme, 2018’ unconstitutional, stating that it violated voters’ right to information about political funding and facilitated a quid pro quo culture.
In its February 15 order, the Court directed SBI to furnish details of the donors, recipients and the bonds encashed by the parties till date by March 6, adding that the electoral bonds scheme provided “blanket anonymity in financial contributions.” It also refused the bank’s request seeking till June 30 to furnish the details – after the General Assembly polls – stating the details were ‘readily available’ with the bank.
