Poll bonds: Extortion case against Sitharaman, Nadda, Kateel, BYV quashed by HC

Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi/Bengaluru

New Delhi/Bengaluru, Dec 3: In a major relief to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP National President J.P. Nadda, former president of Karnataka BJP Nalin Kumar Kateel, and other senior BJP leaders including incumbent State President B Y Vijayendra, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday quashed an extortion case filed against them in connection with the controversial electoral bonds scheme.

The FIR had been registered following a complaint from the NGO Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath, which accused the BJP leaders of extorting money from private companies under the pretext of electoral bonds, threatening them with Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids.

 The court, led by Justice M. Nagaprasanna, dismissed the FIR after hearing a petition filed by BJP leader Nalin Kumar Kateel, who had also been named as an accused in the case.

The petition, filed by Kateel, challenged the case and argued that there were insufficient grounds to register an extortion FIR against the BJP leaders. The court accepted the contention of Kateel’s counsel, K.G. Raghavan, who argued that the case lacked merit.

Kateel, along with other BJP leaders, had been accused of being implicated in the case to settle political scores. In his petition, Kateel stated that the charges were politically motivated and unfounded.

The complaint, filed by Adarsh R. Iyer, co-founder of the "Janadhikara Sangharsha Parishath" (JSP), alleged that the BJP had extorted over ?8,000 crore through the electoral bonds scheme. Iyer claimed that companies such as Aurobindo Pharma, Vedanta, and Sterlite had faced ED raids before making substantial donations to the BJP, suggesting that these donations were made under duress.

The FIR was filed in September after a special court in Bengaluru approved the private complaint from the NGO. The complainants had argued that every citizen has the right to trigger criminal proceedings in cases of serious crime.

Soon after the FIR was filed, the Karnataka High Court had stayed the investigation against Sitharaman and other BJP leaders, issuing an interim order on the petition filed by Kateel.

In February, the Supreme Court had already struck down the electoral bond scheme, stating that it violated constitutional provisions related to the right to information and freedom of speech and expression.

This ruling by the Karnataka High Court has brought relief to the BJP leaders, clearing them of the charges related to the controversial electoral bonds scheme.

(With inputs from IANS)