New Delhi: The missing piece of Electoral Bonds jigsaw -- unique numbers that can match donors with political parties their contribution went to -- is out. Lists supplied by the State Bank of India earlier today have been published by the Election Commission, in keeping with the Supreme Court order on the matter.
The bank had earlier given two lists to the Commission, which were released on the poll panel's website on March 14. They contained information on donors, the bonds purchased and their dates, political parties and the bonds they encashed.
What was missing were the hidden alphanumeric codes on bonds that can help match donors with parties -- a section that has caused huge concern about the end to the anonymity promised by the government. The codes can be seen only under ultraviolet light.
Details from earlier lists have revealed Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd, Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd, Vedanta and Bharti Group among the top donors. The top recipient was the BJP, followed by Trinamool Congress, Congress and the BRS.
It also appeared that some south parties, including DMK, AIADMK and JD(S) have sent information about the donors to the Election Commission.
What The Court Said
On Monday, the Supreme Court had asked the SBI -- the only bank issuing the bonds -- to disclose all details by 5 pm today after the petitioners in the case flagged "incomplete data" provided by the bank.
"We want all information related to the electoral bonds to be disclosed which is in your possession... The SBI's attitude seems to be 'you tell us what to disclose, we will disclose'. That does not seem to be fair. When we say "all details", it includes all conceivable data... All details should come out. We want to ensure that nothing has been suppressed," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had said.
The top court, which scrapping the Electoral Bond Scheme on February 16, had objected to undisclosed funding through corporate donations, saying the voters had a right to know who were funding the political parties.
"Political contributors get access... this access leads to policy making... because of the nexus between money and voting. Financial supports to political parties can lead to quid pro quo arrangement," the bench led by Chief Justice Chandrachud had said.
The court had called the scheme unconstitutional, saying information about funding of political parties is essential for voters to make electoral choices, since the system can lead to tweaking of the country's policies in favour of the donors.
The Industry's Reservations
The industry is concerned that a revelation of identity of donors could lead to victimisation of a company. "If somebody comes to know that I have paid a party, one group, and I have not paid the other party. The other party is going to say that if we are in power in some state, or if we come to power, we are going to take you to task," senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi had told NDTV in a recent interview.
There is also the question of unscrupulous elements taking advantage of the situation, he added.
Who Contributed What
'Lottery king' Santiago Martin's Future Gaming and Hotel Services - which emerged as the top purchaser of electoral bonds - donated Rs 509 crore to Tamil Nadu's ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Overall, the company had donated Rs 1,368 crore.
Among other major contributors were Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (Rs 966 crore), Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd (Rs 410 crore), Vedanta Ltd (Rs 400 crore), and Haldia Energy Ltd (Rs 377 crore).
The Bharti Group, with a donation of Rs 247 crore, is next on the list, followed by Essel Mining & Industries Ltd (Rs 224 crore), Western UP Power Transmission Company Ltd (Rs 220 crore), Keventer Foodpark Infra Ltd (Rs 195 crore) and Madanlal Ltd (Rs 185 crore).
The Recipients
The BJP is the biggest overall recipient (Rs 6,986.5 crore) of the bonds since they were introduced in 2018. The Trinamool Congress was the second (Rs 1,397 crore) followed by Congress (Rs 1,334 crore), BRS (Rs 1,322 crore) and Odisha's ruling party BJD at ₹ 944.5. The DMK was the sixth biggest recipient.