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

New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) In a big relief to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP National President J.P. Nadda, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday quashed an extortion case registered against the BJP leaders in connection with the now-scrapped poll bonds scheme.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna dismissed the FIR on a petition filed by BJP leader Nalin Kumar Kateel challenging the case in which he was also named as an accused along with Sitharaman and others.

The High Court accepted the contention of Kateel’s counsel K.G. Raghavan that there were not enough grounds to register an extortion FIR against the BJP leaders.

Kateel had claimed in his petition that he and other BJP leaders had been implicated in settling political scores.

The FIR was registered in September on the complaint of NGO Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath which alleged that the BJP extorted money from private companies and made illegal gains under the electoral bonds scheme by threatening them with Enforcement Directorate raids.

NGO representative Adarsh R. Iyer alleged in his petition that the BJP made illegal gains of up to Rs 8,000 crore under the poll bonds scheme.

Accusing the BJP of extorting companies, Iyer alleged in the complaint that firms like Aurobindo Pharma, Vedanta and Sterlite faced ED raids before they donated money to the party.

The FIR was registered after a court in Bengaluru approved the private complaint filed by the NGO. The complaint claimed that every citizen has the right to set the criminal law into motion in case of serious crimes.

Soon after the registration of the FIR in September, the High Court stayed further investigation against Sitharaman and other top BJP leaders.

The High Court passed the interim order on a petition filed by Kateel challenging the FIR.

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