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Electoral Bonds Case: SBI Share Price Plummets After Supreme Court Rebuke

The State Bank of India’s request for an extension of the deadline for disclosing information related to Electoral Bonds was denied by the Supreme Court on Monday. The ruling of the Supreme Court caused a sharp decline in SBI’s share price. As soon as the Supreme Court rejected SBI’s plea and directed the bank to submit the information by tomorrow, March 12, the bank’s shares dropped by about two percent. SBI shares were down ₹15 from the previous close at 3:30 pm, trading at ₹773. SBI’s intraday low was ₹771, 2 percent less than the previous day. Experts claim that the bad sentiment on the Indian stock market contributed to the decrease in the central bank’s shares, in addition to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The SBI share price decline, according to experts, should not have a long-term effect on the PSU banking industry and should be seen as a chance for medium- and long-term investors. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra make up the five-judge Constitution bench. On Monday, the bench directed the State Bank of India to release all information related to the electoral bonds by March 12.

Electoral bonds case: What the Supreme Court said

The SBI’s request to extend the deadline for releasing the data on electoral bonds until June 30 was denied by the Supreme Court. In the previous hearing, the highest court had set a deadline of March 6 for the same, and ECI was mandated to publish the data by March 13. The bench issued the following order regarding SBI’s appeal today: “SBI’s submissions in the application show that the information requested is easily accessible. Consequently, the SBI’s motion for a time extension until June 30 is denied. SBI has been instructed to release the information by March 12, 2024, at the latest, during business hours.”

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In the case that the SBI disregards the most recent directives, the Constitution bench further threatened to hold it in contempt of court for willfully breaking its order. “Though we are not exercising contempt jurisdiction, we place SBI on notice that this court will proceed against it for wilful disobedience if it does not comply with the timelines indicated in this order,” the bench was told.