Karnataka High Court Dismisses Extortion Case Against Sitharaman and Nadda
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New Delhi, Dec 3 (NationPress) In a significant development for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP National President J.P. Nadda, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed an extortion case that had been filed against these prominent BJP figures concerning the now-discontinued poll bonds scheme.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna annulled the FIR following a petition from BJP leader Nalin Kumar Kateel, who contested the charges and was also named as an accused alongside Sitharaman and others.
The court agreed with the arguments presented by Kateel’s attorney K.G. Raghavan, asserting that there was insufficient evidence to pursue an extortion FIR against the BJP leaders.
In his petition, Kateel asserted that he and other BJP members were unfairly implicated in a political vendetta.
The FIR was filed in September based on a complaint from the NGO Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath, which alleged that the BJP extorted funds from private enterprises and accrued unlawful profits from the electoral bonds scheme by coercing them with threats of Enforcement Directorate investigations.
NGO representative Adarsh R. Iyer claimed in his petition that the BJP amassed illegal earnings amounting to approximately Rs 8,000 crore through the poll bonds initiative.
In the complaint, Iyer accused the BJP of extorting companies, stating that organizations like Aurobindo Pharma, Vedanta, and Sterlite faced ED raids prior to contributing funds to the party.
The FIR was initiated after a Bengaluru court authorized the private complaint lodged by the NGO. The complaint asserted that every individual is entitled to activate the criminal justice system in cases of serious offenses.
Shortly after the FIR was filed in September, the High Court issued a stay on the investigation against Sitharaman and other senior BJP figures.
The High Court's interim order was made in response to the petition submitted by Kateel contesting the FIR.
