The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India on Monday against the disclosure of unique alphanumeric numbers and serial numbers of electoral bonds, Live Law reported.

The alphanumeric and serial numbers of electoral bonds can be used to match donations with the parties that received them.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing FICCI and ASSOCHAM, urged the bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud to defer the disclosure of the bond numbers. However, the court said that it had not listed any such application.

Rohatgi questioned how the information could be disclosed when the electoral bond scheme had guaranteed anonymity of donors.

“With effect from April 12, 2019, we [Supreme Court] directed the collection of details,” Chandrachud said. “Everyone was put on notice at the time. This is why we did not ask for the disclosure of the bonds sold prior to this interim order. This was a conscious choice by this Constitution bench.”

The court said that the industrialists are approaching the court after the judgement has been delivered and it can do nothing in the matter.

“We can't make an exception for you,” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud verbally remarked during the proceedings. “What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”

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The court on Monday ordered the State Bank of India to disclose all details related to electoral bonds, including their unique alphanumeric numbers and serial numbers, by 5 pm on March 21.

The bench headed by Chandrachud noted that senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the State Bank of India, had stated that all data shall be furnished.

“...There is no manner of doubt that the SBI is required to furnish all details available with it,” the bench said. “This, we clarify, will include the alphanumeric number and serial number, if any, of the bonds purchased. In order to avoid any controversy in the future, the chairperson of the bank should file an affidavit by 5 pm on Thursday that it has disclosed all details in its custody and that no details have been withheld.”

The court said that the Election Commission will have to upload the details “forthwith once it receives the data” from the bank, Bar and Bench reported.

The Supreme Court had on February 15 said that the electoral bonds could lead to quid pro quo arrangements between donors and political parties when it struck down the scheme as unconstitutional. The court had directed the State Bank of India to issue details of the political parties that received electoral bonds from April 12, 2019, and submit them to the Election Commission.

The Election Commission on Thursday made public the electoral bonds data given to it by the State Bank of India, a day after the bank informed the court that it had furnished details of anonymously purchased electoral bonds by contributors and encashed by political parties between April 2019 and February 15, 2024, to the poll panel.

An initial analysis of the data showed that lottery giant Future Gaming and Hotel Services was the top purchaser of electoral bonds, as it had bought bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore. The Bharatiya Janata Party has received the lion’s share of political funding through the scheme.

Electoral bonds were monetary instruments that citizens or corporate groups could buy from the State Bank of India and give to a political party, which could then redeem them.

The entire process was anonymous since buyers were not required to declare their purchase of these interest-free bonds and political parties did not need to show the source of the money. However, the Centre could access information about these donors as it controls the State Bank of India.

The electoral bonds scheme was introduced by the BJP-led Union government in 2018.

Read more analysis on this topic by the Project Electoral Bond, a collaborative project involving Scroll, The News Minute, Newslaundry and freelance journalists.