Electoral Bonds ‘extortion’: Court orders FIR against Nirmala Sitharaman

The Special Court of People’s Representatives in Bengaluru has ordered the filing of a First Information Report (FIR) against Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and several others for alleged extortion linked to the controversial Electoral Bonds scheme.

The directive follows the submission of PCR No. 4880/2024, which outlines claims of coercive tactics used to solicit funds from corporations.

According to court documents, the alleged modus operandi involved Sithar­aman leveraging the services of an accomplice to conduct raids, seizures, and arrests of various corporate executives, including CEOs and Managing Directors.

Fearing repercussions from these actions, numerous corporations were reportedly coerced into purchasing Electoral Bonds worth crores of rupees, which were later encashed by other accused individuals.

The extortion scheme is alleged to have been orchestrated in collusion with officials of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at multiple levels. Notably, corporate giants such as Sterlite and Vedanta, led by businessman Anil Agarwal, were subjected to repeated raids.

Allegedly, Agarwal was pressured to purchase Electoral Bonds amounting to `230.15 crores between April 2019 and November 2023.

The court has instructed the jurisdictional Station House Officer (SHO) of Tilak Nagar police station to take immediate action on the FIR.

Detailed analyses of the alleged extortion activities and supporting evidence are included in the court submissions.