The Election Commission of India (ECI) has recently published data on electoral bonds received from the State Bank of India (SBI) on its website. According to a communication from the ECI to the media, the SBI provided the electoral bond data to the commission on March 12. The ECI reiterated its commitment to transparency, referencing its consistent stance favoring disclosure, as affirmed in the proceedings of the Supreme Court. Following the Supreme Court’s decision to scrap the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018, the court directed the SBI to furnish the electoral bond data to the ECI by March 6, with the ECI instructed to publish it by March 13.
However, on March 4, the bank requested an extension until June 30, citing the time-consuming nature of matching each donation to the respective party. In response, the court clarified on Monday that it had not mandated such matching exercises and directed the bank to provide details including the buyer’s name, bond sale date and denomination, as well as party name, redemption date, and bond denomination from April 12, 2019, onwards to the ECI by close of business hours on Tuesday.