No public interest in disclosing names of electoral bond buyers, says CIC

Transparency watchdog, the Central Information Commission (CIC), has overturned its own order and said there was no public interest in disclosing names of the donors of the electoral bonds while upholding the public authority’s contention that such information cannot be shared under the Right to Information Act as it is held in “fiduciary” capacity.

“There appears to be no larger public interest overriding the right to privacy of the donors and donees concerned,” said information commissioner Suresh Chandra, in his order issued on December 21.

Maharashtra based RTI applicant Vihar Durve has sought details from the State Bank of India of those who bought electoral bonds from it and donated them to Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Left parties, among other political parties, from various branches of the bank in between 2016 and 2018.