SBI refuses to disclose SOP for sale, redemption of electoral bonds in RTI reply

New Delhi: The State Bank of India (SBI) has declined to reveal its standard operating procedure (SOP) for the sale and redemption of electoral bonds issued to its authorised branches. The bank cited “commercial confidence” as the reason for this decision, as per a response to a Right to Information (RTI) Act application.

Transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj had filed the RTI application, seeking information on the SOP issued to SBI’s authorised branches regarding the sale and redemption of electoral bonds. In response, M Kanna Babu, the central public information officer and deputy general manager of SBI, stated on March 30 that the SOPs of the Electoral Bond Scheme-2018 are internal guidelines exempted under section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act.

This section of the Act exempts the disclosure of information, including commercial confidence, trade secrets, or intellectual property, which could harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority deems that the public interest warrants such disclosure.

Bhardwaj expressed her shock at SBI’s continued denial of crucial information about the operation of the electoral bonds scheme, even after the Supreme Court declared the scheme unconstitutional and ordered the disclosure of all details of the electoral bonds purchased and redeemed.

She noted that the SOPs would provide insight into the official instructions regarding the specifics of the information to be stored and the manner in which the bank was to maintain information on the sale and redemption of the electoral bonds. She also pointed out that SBI had referred to the SOPs in its March 4 application when it requested an additional four months to comply with the Supreme Court’s judgement to disclose electoral bond details.

The RTI response from SBI came shortly after the Supreme Court reprimanded the bank for not disclosing the unique alphanumeric numbers of the bonds, as per its instructions.

The court had ordered the disclosure of all bond details, including the names of the purchasers, the amounts, and the dates of purchase.

A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had instructed SBI to provide the Election Commission (EC) with all details of the electoral bonds purchased and, if applicable, redeemed by political parties, including the dates of purchase. The bench noted that SBI had not disclosed the alpha-numeric numbers of the electoral bonds.

In a landmark verdict on February 15, the court abolished the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme, which allowed anonymous political funding, terming it “unconstitutional”. The court ordered the EC to disclose the donors, the amounts donated, and the recipients by March 13.