SBI Submits Electoral Bond Details With Unique Numbers To EC: What's Revealed

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday submitted complete details of the electoral bonds, including the unique numbers, to the Election Commission, as directed by the Supreme Court. The top court had ordered the SBI to disclose all details of the electoral bonds it possessed. With this disclosure, five key pieces of information will now be known about electoral bonds: the purchaser's name, the bond's denomination and specific number, the party that encashed the bond, the last four digits of the political parties' bank account numbers, and the denomination and number of bonds encashed.

Previously, the SBI had submitted details of the purchasers, amounts, and funds received by the parties separately.

The SBI stated in its affidavit to the Supreme Court that complete bank account numbers and KYC details of political parties would not be made public due to security concerns. Similarly, KYC details of purchasers would also remain undisclosed for security reasons and because such information is not fed into the system. However, these details are not necessary for identifying political parties.

The SBI chairman informed the Supreme Court that there are no more undisclosed details regarding electoral bonds, except for the KYC details and complete account numbers. The unique alphanumeric numbers help identify the bond and the recipient party. The Supreme Court observed that by withholding this number, the SBI did not fully comply with its order of March 11, in which it was asked to disclose all details of electoral bonds.

Previously disclosed details revealed that Future Gaming and Hotel Services, owned by lottery king Santiago Martin, was among the top purchasers of electoral bonds.

While most political parties provided a chronological breakdown of the value of bonds they encashed, 10 recognized parties, including AAP, DMK, AIADMK, Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), JD(S), JKNC, MGP, Samajwadi Party, NCP, and JD(U), included the names of donors along with the amounts they contributed. For instance, Samajwadi Party disclosed total donations worth ₹10.84 crore, of which it said it received "by post (no name)" 10 bonds totaling ₹10 crore. For the remaining amount, it listed S K Traders, San Beverages, A K Traders, K S Traders, B G Traders, and A S Traders as donors.