Three days before the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring electoral bonds unconstitutional, the Finance Ministry had granted final approval for printing 10,000 electoral bonds, each valued at Rs 1 crore, by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL). However, following the Supreme Court’s decision, on February 28, the Finance Ministry instructed the State Bank of India (SBI) to cease printing these bonds immediately.
Indian Express RTI Reveals Shocking Electoral Bonds Truth
Emails obtained by The Indian Express under the Right to Information Act revealed that SPMCIL had already printed and dispatched 8,350 bonds to the SBI. Since the inception of the scheme, a total of 22,217 electoral bonds have been redeemed, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) redeeming Rs 8,451 crore, Congress redeeming Rs 1,950 crore, Trinamool Congress redeeming Rs 1,707.81 crore, and BRS redeeming Rs 1,407.30 crore.
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The directive to halt printing was conveyed through a trail mail titled “Hold on Printing of Electoral Bonds — Electoral Bond Scheme 2018,” dated February 28, issued from the SBI to the SPMCIL. In this email, the SBI’s Assistant General Manager of the Transaction Banking Department referenced receiving four boxes containing 8350 bonds. He requested a halt to printing the remaining 1,650 electoral bonds, as per the Supreme Court’s judgment.
A note dated February 27 documented the order for printing 400 booklets and 10,000 electoral bonds, with the final approval from the Government of India granted on February 12. Additionally, on the same day, another email was sent from the Finance Ministry’s Budget section to the SBI and others in the Ministry, urging the SBI to immediately communicate with the SPMCIL to halt the printing of the remaining 1,650 electoral bonds for which approval had been granted.
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In summary, the Finance Ministry’s approval for printing electoral bonds was swiftly followed by the Supreme Court’s ruling, prompting the Ministry to instruct the SBI to halt the printing process. This exchange of correspondence sheds light on the timeline and actions taken regarding issuing electoral bonds in light of the legal developments.
