Many political parties on Wednesday submitted the details of electoral bonds received and encashed by them since the poll funding implementation came into effect from since 2018. The details have been submitted to Election Commission of India.The move of submission of the electoral bond has come after Supreme Court directed the election body to produce an update on the contributions received by the political parties till September 30, 2023. The parties were directed to submit them under a sealed cover. These details will be submitted to the top court by November 19, 2023. Last date to submit Electoral BondsAccording to one of the senior EC officials, “The commission has received responses from some political parties. Since we have to submit our response to the Supreme Court on November 19, we will continue to accept responses from the parties even though the deadline has passed.”Order by Supreme CourtWhile considering the constitutional challenge to the electoral bond program, a five-judge Supreme Court Constitution panel granted the poll commission two weeks to provide updated data in an interim decision on November 3. Following a three-day hearing, the bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud reserved its decision.A similar order mandating the EC to provide information about the electoral bonds received by political parties in a sealed envelope was also issued by the Supreme Court in April 2019. However, the SC expressed dissatisfaction that the poll panel had not retained current data when it was brought to the benchs attention that the EC had only given data relevant to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
