The corporate that contributed probably the most by the tactic is Future Gaming and Lodge Providers PR.
New Delhi:
In a giant transfer in direction of transparency in political funding, the Election Fee of India has uploaded the information of the electoral bonds given to it by the State Financial institution of India. The main points have been uploaded on Thursday, a day earlier than the deadline set by the Supreme Court docket.
The info pertains to purchases of bonds of denominations between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1 crore relationship again to April 12, 2019, and divulges purchases by corporations in addition to people.
The EC’s web site has two lists. The primary is of corporations that bought electoral bonds, together with the denomination and dates. The opposite has names of the political events in addition to the denominations of the bonds and the dates on which they have been encashed. There may be, nevertheless, no approach of correlating the lists and discovering out which firm or particular person had donated to which celebration.
The corporate that contributed probably the most by the tactic is Future Gaming and Lodge Providers PR, which purchased bonds value Rs 1,368 crore. Megha Engineering And Infrastructures Restricted was second, buying bonds value Rs 966 crore.
At Rs 410 crore, Qwik Provide Chain Non-public Restricted was a distant third, adopted by Vedanta Restricted at Rs 400 crore and Haldia Vitality Restricted at Rs 377 crore.
Bharti Group is sixth, having donated Rs 247 crore, adopted by Essel Mining And Inds Ltd at Rs 224 crore. The remaining three within the checklist of prime 10 donors are Western UP Energy Transmission Firm Restricted, which contributed Rs 220 crore, Keventer Foodpark Infra Ltd, which gave Rs 195 crore, and Madanlal Ltd at Rs 185 crore.
The events that encashed electoral bonds embrace the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, AAP, Samajwadi Celebration, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JDS, NCP, JDU and RJD.
Saying that it has launched the information, the ballot physique mentioned in a press release, ”The Election Fee of India has at present uploaded the information on electoral bonds on its web site as acquired from SBI on ’as is the place is foundation'”.
”It might be recalled that within the mentioned matter, ECI has constantly and categorically weighed in favour of disclosure and transparency, a place mirrored within the proceedings of the Hon’ble Supreme Court docket and famous within the order additionally,” it mentioned.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan – who had appeared for the Affiliation of Democratic Reforms, one of many petitioners within the electoral bonds case – identified that the serial numbers of the bonds weren’t talked about within the information. This, he mentioned, was vital to determine who donated, and the way a lot, to which celebration. He additionally claimed that contributions not being nameless was implicit within the Supreme Court docket order.
”The Data of #ElectoralBonds uploaded by EC (which they are saying is as recd from SBI), doesn’t give the serial variety of the bonds, which is critical for locating who gave bond to whom. This was implicit in SC Jt. SBI affidavit mentioned this information is recorded although in separate silos,” Mr Bhushan posted on X.
The Data of #ElectoralBonds uploaded by EC (which they are saying is as recd from SBI), doesn’t give the serial variety of the bonds, which is critical for locating who gave bond to whom. This was implicit in SC Jt. SBI affidavit mentioned this information is recorded although in separate silos. pic.twitter.com/WTcq0pmDvR
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) March 14, 2024
The info will be accessed right here.
Supreme Court docket’s Warning
Throughout a listening to on Monday, a Supreme Court docket bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had come down closely on the SBI for “wilful disobedience of its order” on the information being handed over to the ballot physique by March 6.
The court docket had ordered the SBI to submit the information to the Election Fee by Tuesday, warning it of contempt proceedings if it failed to take action. The court docket had additionally directed the chairman and managing director of the financial institution to file an affidavit after the order had been complied with.
SBI, which is India’s largest financial institution, had submitted the information on Tuesday and filed the affidavit within the court docket the day after that. The affidavit said that 22,217 electoral bonds have been issued between April 2019 and February 15, 2024, earlier than the Supreme Court docket struck down the scheme after declaring it unconstitutional and arbitrary.
The financial institution mentioned political events had redeemed 22,030 bonds whereas the remaining 187 have been redeemed and the cash was deposited within the Prime Minister’s nationwide reduction fund, in accordance with the principles.
The Supreme Court docket will hear a petition filed by the Election Fee on the electoral bonds order on Friday.