New Delhi: Even as we try to get a finer understanding of the electoral bonds data released by the Election Commission of India on Thursday, several observers – and the Supreme Court – have pointed out that the State Bank of India hasn’t divulged the unique identification number of the electoral bonds. The number, often referred to as the “matching code”, could have established a connection between the purchaser of the bond and the beneficiary political party.
The court has now issued notice to the SBI on its failure to disclose these numbers.
The Wire did a quick chat with Poonam Agarwal, who, back in 2018 as a journalist with The Quint, was one of the of the first Indian scribes to buy an electoral bond for an investigative story. Read her experience and explanation on why she feels that the “matching code”, if divulged, would have painted a much more vivid picture of the electoral bonds story than it is now.
As one of the first journalists to buy an electoral bond, could you give us an idea of the process of purchasing the EBs?
I went to the SBI Parliament Branch to purchase the bond, the only branch in Delhi that sells electoral bonds. I went as a citizen of the country to purchase the bond. The SBI officer checked why I am interested in purchasing the bond, I told him that I am interested in donating to political parties through the bond.
Did you find the whole purchasing process hush-hush?
The bank officers were a bit suspicious about me as to why an individual had come to purchase the bond. And from where did I get to know about bonds. They took my KYC details and a cheque of Rs 1,000 before selling the bond.
You had mentioned in your story that each EB had a unique identification number. How did you find it? And what could have been its use?
It was my curiosity that made me get a forensic test done of the bond. When I gave my Rs 1,000 bond to the Truth lab forensic lab to test, they said that there is a hidden unique number which is visible under UV Ray. To prove that it is a unique number, I purchased one more bond worth Rs 1,000 and got its forensic test done. Both the bonds had different numbers hidden in the bonds. Hence it was proven that bonds carry hidden unique numbers.
SBI in an RTI reply confirmed that these unique numbers were recorded and it is used for audit trail. The finance ministry responded to my story saying that the unique hidden number is a security feature. So both are true, it is a security feature and also used for audit trail.
The SBI’s appeal to the SC seeking over three months to submit the details of the electoral bonds to the Election Commission was quashed. And within a day, the SBI could furnish those details to the ECI, which has now published it. What do you think could be the SBI’s reasons to seek more time, if the data was already readily available with it?
As a journalist, I cannot say why SBI is not taking a plea of time for not matching the data of the purchaser and political parties. I can only state facts, and the facts are that these unique numbers are recorded and SBI conducts an audit trail every financial year. Then how come they have not compiled and matched the data of the purchaser and the political parties?
