When political parties submitted sealed covers to the Election Commission of India (ECI) containing information about the electoral bonds they received, some parties revealed the names of their donors, while others claimed that the nature of the scheme did not allow them to know who donated. Then there was a third category – including Janata Dal (United) and Trinamool Congress – that claimed that the identity of their donors was a mystery to them.
In the statements submitted by the ECI to the Supreme Court in November 2023, both JD(U) and TMC said the bonds came in sealed envelopes at their party offices in Bihar and West Bengal respectively.
According to the JD(U), the party encashed Rs 10 crore- worth electoral bonds that were sent to them mysteriously. “Somebody came into our office on April 3, 2019 at Patna and handed over a sealed envelope. When it was opened, we found a bunch containing 10 electoral bonds of Rs 1 crore each,” it said. The reply added that a State Bank of India (SBI) account was created on April 10, 2023 as per the gazette notification. JD(U) also received electoral bonds worth Rs 1 crore twice from Shree Cement Limited on April 16, 2019, and a single bond of Rs 1 crore denomination from Bharti Airtel Limited on April 26, 2019.
Similar in nature was the TMC’s reply, which said that most of the bonds that the party received were dropped in their mailbox or sent to them through messengers by unknown persons. The party also said that it had sent a letter to the SBI General Manager in Kolkata requesting details of the donors that purchased the electoral bonds and sent it to them.
“We do not have the names and other details of the buyers of the bonds. However, we understand that the Electoral Bonds contain a unique number, which is issued by you and is linked to the purchaser of the bonds. The State Bank of India is the sole issuer of these bonds and we understand that all persons to whom the bonds were issued had submitted their KYC documents, including their PAN card, identity proof, address proof, and other supporting documents. Thus, the bank has all the details of all the bond holders who have donated the bonds to us,” the statement said.