India's top court asks SBI for data to link political fund donors, recipients

Supreme Court gives state-run lender until Thursday to provide the ECI with unique identification numbers of bonds


Reuters March 18, 2024
A lawyer looks into his mobile phone in front India's Supreme Court in New Delhi, December 11, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW DELHI:

India's Supreme Court ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday to submit all the details of so-called electoral bonds issued under an opaque political funding system, just a month before general elections.

The further details of the controversial funding mechanism, introduced in 2017 but subsequently scrapped, are expected to make public information linking donors to political parties over the last five years, and the size of their donations.

Corporate funding of political parties is a sensitive matter in India, where the February scrapping of electoral bonds, along with the publicising of the names of donors and recipients, has become a hot topic ahead of elections due by May.

The Supreme Court gave the state-run lender until Thursday to provide the Election Commission of India with the unique identification numbers of the bonds, so as to allow donors to be matched with recipients.

"You have to disclose all details ... we must have finality to it," Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said.

The election commission, in its turn, was directed to make the information public "forthwith".

Last week, the commission made public some data on donations made since April 2019 under the funding mechanism that allowed anonymous unlimited donations by companies and individuals using the electoral bonds.

Read also: India's top court orders SBI bank to share political donors' names by Tuesday

Some of India's biggest companies, such as Vedanta Ltd, Bharti Airtel, RPSG Group and Essel Mining were among the top political funders over the last five years, the data showed.

But last week's data did not link donors to recipients, though it showed that nearly half of all donations were received by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will seek a rare third term at the polls.

Critics say such bonds helped companies hide their donations to avoid any accusations of winning favours from the ruling party.

On Sunday, the leader of the main opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, accused Modi's government of using electoral bonds to extort money from companies, an accusation the government has strongly denied.

Industry bodies Assocham, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry sought to stop the court from making public information about who donated to which party.

"Protection of anonymity is critical for preserving donors' privacy and guarding against any adversity by any opposing political factions to whom the investment is not made by a corporate," Assocham said.

The court did not hear their plea.

COMMENTS (2)

samir sardana | 7 months ago | Reply AS THE WORLD WILL SEE ON 21ST SBI WILL NOT GIVE AFFIDAVIT SOME OF THE REDEEMED BONDS ARE MISSING AND MANY KYC FORMS WILL BE MISSING KYC MISSING MEANS THAT BUYER AND BOND NUMBER AND BJP CANNOT BE LINKED BUT THEN THERE WILL BE A BANK ENTRY NOW HERE AGAIN PEOPLE WILL FIND THAT MANY OF THE INDIVIDUAL NAMES ARE BOGUS WITH REAL AADHAR AND PAN THESE INDIVIDUALS WIRED MONEY FROM ACCOUNTS OPENED A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE EB AND NOW HAVE VANISHED ALL ADDRESSES ARE BOGUS LIKE IN DEMO SAME WILL APPLY FOR TRUSTS AND SOCIETIES NOW WE COME TO COMPANIES COMPANY A BUYS A BOND BUT THE PAYMENT IS FROM PERSON X KYC IS OF A BUT PERSON X HAS OPENED A BOGUS BANK ACCOUNT JUST TO WIRE THE MONEY AND NOW HAS VANISHED NOW FOR X SBI HAS LOST THE KYC PAPERS NOW SOME WILL SAY THAT SBI HAD IRC INWARD REMITTANCE CERTIFICATES OF RS 1000 CRORES ON 1 DAY IN 100 TRANCHES OF 10 CRORES FROM 100 DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS BUT IF THE KYC IS LOST THEN HOW WILL SBI KNOW WHICH 10 CRORES WAS FOR WHICH PARTY AND WHICH BOND NUMBER UNLESS THE BOND NUMBER HAS A LINK TO THE IRC DATE AND IRC . SO SPMCL WILL HAVE 2 BOND NUMBER S 1 IS THE SPMCL NUMBER AND THE 2ND IS SBI NUMBER PRINTED BY SBI USING SPMCL TECHNOLOGY MAMMA MIA THAT IS Y YOU HAD THE ROUND FIGURE OF RS 1 CRORE PER BOND AND THAT IS Y THE DATA WAS KEPT MANUAL IT COULD HAVE BEEN FED ONE WAY FEEDING WITH NO REPORTS OR PRINT OUTS AND PASSWOED CHECKED BY CMD BANKING SECRETARY AND STAND ALONE -OFF THE WEB BUT SBI KEPT IT MANUAL SO THAT KYC FORMS CAN BE DESTROYED THE LINK TO THE 1ST BEARER OF THE BEARER BONDS ONCE KYC IS GONE ANY DONOR CAN DENY THE BOND THE BANK TRANSFER WILL PROVE BOND BUYING BUT NOT LINK IT TO BOND NUMBER AND THUS THE BJP AND THAT WAS THE PLAN FROM DAY 1 SPMCL PRINTED THE BONDS IT COULD HAVE PLACED A SECRET CODE ON THE BOND LINKING THE BOND TO THE INWARD REMITTANCE COORDINATES OF THE BANK TRANSFER THAT WOULD HAVE NAILED THE MATRIX MAYBE THAT CODE IS THERE AND SBI IS LYING THIS IS REALITY OF INDIA dindooohindoo
samir sardana | 7 months ago | Reply AS THE WORLD WILL SEE ON 21ST SBI WILL NOT GIVE AFFIDAVIT SOME OF THE REDEEMED BONDS ARE MISSING AND MANY KYC FORMS WILL BE MISSING KYC MISSING MEANS THAT BUYER AND BOND NUMBER AND BJP CANNOT BE LINKED BUT THEN THERE WILL BE A BANK ENTRY NOW HERE AGAIN PEOPLE WILL FIND THAT MANY OF THE INDIVIDUAL NAMES ARE BOGUS WITH REAL AADHAR AND PAN THESE INDIVIDUALS WIRED MONEY FROM ACCOUNTS OPENED A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE EB AND NOW HAVE VANISHED ALL ADDRESSES ARE BOGUS LIKE IN DEMO SAME WILL APPLY FOR TRUSTS AND SOCIETIES NOW WE COME TO COMPANIES COMPANY A BUYS A BOND BUT THE PAYMENT IS FROM PERSON X KYC IS OF A BUT PERSON X HAS OPENED A BOGUS BANK ACCOUNT JUST TO WIRE THE MONEY AND NOW HAS VANISHED NOW FOR X SBI HAS LOST THE KYC PAPERS NOW SOME WILL SAY THAT SBI HAD IRC INWARD REMITTANCE CERTIFICATES OF RS 1000 CRORES ON 1 DAY IN 100 TRANCHES OF 10 CRORES FROM 100 DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS BUT IF THE KYC IS LOST THEN HOW WILL SBI KNOW WHICH 10 CRORES WAS FOR WHICH PARTY AND WHICH BOND NUMBER UNLESS THE BOND NUMBER HAS A LINK TO THE IRC DATE AND IRC . SO SPMCL WILL HAVE 2 BOND NUMBER S 1 IS THE SPMCL NUMBER AND THE 2ND IS SBI NUMBER PRINTED BY SBI USING SPMCL TECHNOLOGY MAMMA MIA THAT IS Y YOU HAD THE ROUND FIGURE OF RS 1 CRORE PER BOND AND THAT IS Y THE DATA WAS KEPT MANUAL IT COULD HAVE BEEN FED ONE WAY FEEDING WITH NO REPORTS OR PRINT OUTS AND PASSWOED CHECKED BY CMD BANKING SECRETARY AND STAND ALONE -OFF THE WEB BUT SBI KEPT IT MANUAL SO THAT KYC FORMS CAN BE DESTROYED THE LINK TO THE 1ST BEARER OF THE BEARER BONDS ONCE KYC IS GONE ANY DONOR CAN DENY THE BOND THE BANK TRANSFER WILL PROVE BOND BUYING BUT NOT LINK IT TO BOND NUMBER AND THUS THE BJP AND THAT WAS THE PLAN FROM DAY 1 SPMCL PRINTED THE BONDS IT COULD HAVE PLACED A SECRET CODE ON THE BOND LINKING THE BOND TO THE INWARD REMITTANCE COORDINATES OF THE BANK TRANSFER THAT WOULD HAVE NAILED THE MATRIX MAYBE THAT CODE IS THERE AND SBI IS LYING THIS IS REALITY OF INDIA dindooohindoo
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