The complete electoral bond data submitted by the State Bank of India, as ordered by the Supreme Court, was published by the Election Commission on Thursday. This updated data contains alphanumeric numbers that can be used to link the buyers of the bonds with the political parties that redeemed them.
The information additionally consists of bond numbers, which would allow donors to be linked with the political parties they made donations to.
"In compliance with the Supreme Court's directions, SBI has provided data pertaining to electoral bonds to ECI today i.e. March 21, 2024. The ECI has uploaded it on its website as received from SBI on an 'as is where is basis'," ECI said in a statement on Thursday.
The data consists of two sets - one with 552 pages of information about political parties' redemption of electoral bonds, and another with 386 pages of details about the donors. These records span from April 2019 to January 2024.
The latest information was released by the election commission on its website after the State Bank of India submitted the necessary details earlier in the day, as required by a Supreme Court directive.
The information regarding the redemption process of political parties consists of various elements such as the order number, cashing date, party name, last four digits of the account number, prefix, bond number, value, branch code, and teller.
The State Bank of India was the sole bank authorized to sell and redeem the bonds. These bonds were initially issued in March 2018 and were being sold until being declared invalid by the highest court last month.
The Supreme Court instructed SBI on Monday to reveal all information regarding electoral bonds, including the unique identification code, by March 21. The court also requested the Election Commission to upload the details once they are received from the SBI.
The SBI chairman, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, submitted that the "prefix and the bond number is in fact the alphanumeric number".
