State Bank of India once again refuses to disclose electoral bond SOPs

The State Bank of India (SBI) has declined to disclose the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the sale and redemption of electoral bonds, citing "commercial confidence" and asserting that the information constitutes its "intellectual property." \r

Anjali Bhardwaj, an advocate for transparency, filed a Right to Information (RTI) application seeking access to the SOPs dating back to April 2017. After SBI rejected the request, Bhardwaj appealed to the first appellate authority (FAA), but received an unsatisfactory response on May 17, prompting her to escalate the matter to the Central Information Commission (CIC). \r

The FAA justified the denial under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, claiming the information was held in commercial confidence and meant exclusively for dealing staff. Bhardwaj expressed concerns about SBI's handling of transaction data for electoral bonds, especially after the Supreme Court deemed the bond scheme unconstitutional and ordered disclosure of all bond details. She criticized the FAA's failure to weigh public interest and its reliance on internal guidelines to justify denial.