The State Bank of India (SBI) gave details about buying and redeeming electoral bonds to the Election Commission, as directed by the Supreme Court. Each bond has a special code that can match donations to political parties.

On Friday, the Supreme Court asked the State Bank of India (SBI) to reveal the special code on electoral bonds. This code helps match donations to the political parties receiving them.

Earlier, the SBI had told the Supreme Court that it shared details of buying and redeeming electoral bonds with the Election Commission, following the court’s instructions.

During the hearing, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) noticed that the SBI hadn’t shared the bond numbers, which were important according to the court’s order. The CJI said that the SBI must disclose these numbers as per the court’s ruling.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, mentioned that the SBI had the bond numbers but hadn’t shared them yet. The Solicitor General requested the court to notify the SBI since they weren’t officially part of the proceedings.

The CJI expressed disappointment that the SBI hadn’t shared the bond numbers and said they should have done so. He emphasized that the court’s order required full disclosure.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing one of the petitioners, mentioned that the order should cover all details.

The court then decided to notify the SBI and ordered, “The SBI needs to share all details about electoral bonds, including the special alphanumeric codes. The court instructed the registry to notify the SBI and return the electoral bond data to the Election Commission. The data should be scanned and digitized, and the original copies returned to the Election Commission by tomorrow. The Election Commission will then upload the data on its website.”