FIR Against Nirmala Sitharaman In Bengaluru Over ‘Extortion’ Through Electoral Bonds

New Delhi: A Bengaluru court has ordered an FIR be registered against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over allegations of extortion through the now-scrapped electoral bonds.

Adarsh Iyer from the Janaadhikara Sangharsha Sanghatane filed a  complaint against Nirmala Sitharaman and others alleging that extortion was carried out through electoral bonds, India Today reported, adding that following this, the Special Court for People’s Representatives in Bengaluru ordered an FIR to be filed in the matter. The FIR has since been registered.

Notably, the Supreme Court scrapped the electoral bonds scheme in February this year, calling it unconstitutional and saying it violated citizens’ right to information. The Centre introduced the scheme in 2018 to replace cash donations to political parties, to improve transparency in political funding.

Reacting to the case, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah demanded Nirmala Sitharaman’s resignation and said a report on the matter should be submitted within three months. “An FIR has been registered against Nirmala Sitharaman in the Special Court for People’s Representatives. Who is she? She is a Union Minister, and there is an FIR against her too. They were involved in extortion through electoral bonds and the FIR has been registered on that. She should tender her resignation after the FIR has been registered. Will they (BJP) ask her to resign?” he said.

“Now, as per Section 17A (of the Prevention of Corruption Act), the investigation must be completed and a report should be submitted within three months. Based on that, they have registered the FIR and are investigating further,” he added.

Section 17A provides additional protection for public servants from being probed on a frivolous basis. The provision makes it mandatory for a police officer to seek prior approval from a competent authority for conducting any enquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act.