SBI filed ‘false affidavit’, recorded electoral bond numbers ‘illegally’: Former finance secy Subhash Garg

Electoral bonds were brought in to increase transparency in political funding, but it turned into a “sorry chapter in India’s history”, former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said.

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 23, 2024 06:17 PM IST

Former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg. (File)

A day after the State Bank of India (SBI) provided all details of electoral bonds purchased and redeemed, including the alphanumeric codes of each bond that enabled donors to be matched with the recipients, former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg on Friday said the bank was not supposed to record the bond numbers and in doing so it had violated the anonymity promised to donors under the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018. He also pointed out that the earlier affidavit filed by the bank on the matter was “ostensibly false”.

The SBI had done something “completely unlawful and unexpected”, Garg told The Indian Express. By recording the alphanumeric codes of the bonds sold to donors and encashed by political parties, the bank had hit at the basic feature of the scheme that was brought in by the government in 2018 to enable anonymous political donations, he said.

“The SBI said in its first affidavit that the information of donors and parties was kept in physical form in two silos and that it would take three months to match. But subsequent events have shown that they recorded the information in a digital form. Their first affidavit appears to be motivated by the desire to push the disclosure of the data beyond the Lok Sabha elections. Why did they file the ostensibly false affidavit,” asked Garg.

He said the electoral bond scheme was brought in to increase transparency in political funding by moving from cash to white money, with a feature of anonymity for the donors. But it had become a “sorry chapter in India’s history”. The aims were “frustrated by SBI’s patently illegal act,” he said.

The bank had provided all the details to the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday on the orders of the Supreme Court, which struck down the scheme on February 15. Also on court orders, the EC published the data on its website on Thursday evening. The court had instructed SBI to provide the data to the EC by March 6, but the bank moved the court on March 4 seeking time till June 30 to do so. It argued that matching the donations to the parties was a “time-consuming exercise”.

The court, however, rejected the plea and told the bank to provide the data by March 12 and the EC to publish it by March 15. The SBI provided the names and amounts of the donors and parties, but not the alphanumeric codes. Once again, the court cracked down on the bank and on Monday directed it to provide all details, including the alphanumeric codes, by 5 pm on Thursday.

Damini Nath

Damini Nath is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. She covers the housing and urban affairs and Election Commission beats. She has 11 years of experience as a reporter and sub-editor. Before joining The Indian Express in 2022, she was a reporter with The Hindu’s national bureau covering culture, social justice, housing and urban affairs and the Election Commission. Expertise Key Coverage Areas: Damini Nath currently specializes in reporting on two crucial beats: Housing and Urban Affairs: Providing in-depth analysis and reporting on India's urban development, policy, and housing issues. Election Commission (EC): Offering authoritative coverage of electoral processes, policies, and the functioning of India's constitutional body responsible for conducting elections. Professional Background: Her extensive experience includes roles as a reporter and sub-editor, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the journalistic process from fieldwork to final production. Previous Role: Before joining The Indian Express in 2022, she served as a dedicated reporter with The Hindu’s national bureau, where her reporting portfolio included: Culture Social Justice Housing and Urban Affairs The Election Commission beat (a consistent area of focus). Trustworthiness Damini Nath's decade-plus career at two of India's most respected and authoritative news institutions, The Indian Express and The Hindu, underscores her commitment to factual, impartial, and high-quality reporting, establishing her as a trusted and credible source for news on urban governance and electoral matters. ... Read More

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