As the State Bank of India’s request for an extension till June 30 to comply with the Supreme Court order to divulge the details of the Electoral Bond contributions is pending before Apex Court, the intrigue surrounding the scheme has risen to new levels. Initial public reactions evidently suggest that the premium public sector bank has further eroded its credibility. The requested extension goes against the very spirit of the February 15 landmark judgement of the Supreme Court, which struck down the Electoral Bond scheme as ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘arbitrary’. The developments have certainly deepened the shadows of doubt that have come to engulf the Indian democratic process as a whole in recent times.

Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, Managing Editor of The AIDEM and Thomas Franco, former General Secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) and founder of “People First” discuss the structural and political implications of the SBI manoeuvre in an interaction with Anand Haridas, senior journalist and multimedia professional.