Karnataka HC stays probe against Nirmala Sitharaman in extortion case linked to electoral bonds
This came after the finance minister and a BJP leader were booked for allegedly misusing the now-scrapped scheme to extort private companies.
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The Karnataka High Court on Monday stayed an investigation against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and several others in an extortion case linked to the electoral bonds scheme, Bar and Bench reported.
Justice M Nagaprasanna issued the order in response to a petition by Bharatiya Janata Party member Nalin Kumar Kateel, who has challenged a criminal complaint against him in the case. Kateel was the party’s Karnataka chief between 2019 and 2023.
On Saturday, the Karnataka Police filed a first information report against Sitharaman, Kateel and the BJP’s state chief BY Vijayendra, among others, for allegedly misusing the electoral bond scheme to extort money from private companies.
The Supreme Court in February struck down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional, holding that it violated the right to information, freedom of speech and could lead to quid pro quo arrangements between donors and political parties.
The first information report came on the direction of a Bengaluru court. The court’s order was based on a complaint by activist Adarsh R Iyer of the non-governmental organisation Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath.
Sitharaman and the others were booked for extortion, criminal conspiracy and “acts done with common intention” under sections of the Indian Penal Code.
“Section 383 of the Indian Penal Code [inducing fear] mandates any informant should have been put into fear,” said the...
