Youth Congress protest outside SBI office.
Credit: X/@srinivasiyc
Members of the Karnataka Youth Congress on Monday launched a protest outside a State Bank of India office in Bengaluru after the Supreme Court rejected the bank's plea seeking an extension to reveal electoral bonds data.
In a video shared by All-India President of Youth Congress Srinivas B V on X, police can be seen dragging away Youth Congress protesters from the site.
In his post, Srinivas said, "The Supreme Court's rejection of SBI's request for an extension is a victory for transparency. In a democracy, it's essential that institutions are held accountable."
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud also directed the EC to publish the details shared by the bank on its official website by 5 pm on March 15.
The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, put the SBI on notice that the apex court may be inclined to proceed against it for "wilful disobedience" of its February 15 verdict if the bank failed to comply with its directions and timelines.
In a landmark verdict delivered on February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench had scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and ordered disclosure by the EC of donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients by March 13.
(With PTI inputs)