 |
|
The Karnataka High Court has issued a stay order on the investigation into a First Information Report (FIR) filed against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and other individuals, including officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. The FIR, registered in Bengaluru, alleged that Sitharaman and others had used the electoral bond scheme to extort billions of rupees from companies, effectively leveraging the ED for their own benefit.
The FIR was initiated based on a private complaint filed by Adarsh R. Iyer, co-president of the Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath (JSP). Iyer's complaint accused Sitharaman and ED officials of committing extortion by using the threat of raids, seizures, and arrests to coerce private companies into purchasing electoral bonds in favor of the BJP. He alleged that the extortion scheme, carried out in collaboration with BJP leaders at both the state and national level, had resulted in over ₹8,000 crore being illegally obtained.
The court's decision to stay the investigation follows a petition filed by Nalin Kumar Kateel, a former president of the BJP's Karnataka unit, who is named as an accused in the FIR. This temporary halt on the investigation provides Sitharaman and the other accused with a window of time to contest the allegations against them and potentially challenge the validity of the FIR. The case is likely to continue in the courts, with further legal proceedings expected.