FIR against Nirmala Sitharaman, Nadda and others in connection with electoral bond scheme

According to the complaint, Ms. Sitharaman and ED officials committed extortion under the pretext of electoral bonds and benefitted to the tune of over ₹8,000 crore.

The Tilak Nagar police on Saturday (September 28, 2024) registered an First Information Report (FIR) against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP national president J.P. Nadda among others for allegedly committing irregularities and misusing electoral bond scheme to extort money from the companies using enforcement agencies .

The FIR was filed based on the court directions, charging the accused under sections 384 (punishment for extortion) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with 34 (acts done with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Based on a private complaint filed by Adarsh R Iyer, co-president of Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath (JSP) alleging criminal conspiracy and extortion compelling companies and other individuals through electoral bonds in favour of BJP, the FIR named Ms. Sitharaman, Enforcement Directorate (ED), BJP Karnataka president B.Y. Vijayendra and senior leader Naleen Kumar Kateel.

According to the complaint, Ms. Sitharaman and ED officials committed extortion under the pretext of electoral bonds and benefitted to the tune of over ₹8,000 crore. Mr. Iyer in his complaint alleged that the “extortion” was committed in connivance with Nadda, Kateel, Vijayendra and other office bearers of the party at the state and national level. He also claimed that Ms. Sitharaman used the ED to “conduct raids, seizures and arrests of various corporates, their CEOs, MDs and on top executive of the companies to compel them to pay ”.

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Fearing the raids, many corporates were forced to buy electoral bonds worth several crores, which were encashed by Nadda, Kateel, Vijayendra and others, he alleged. “The entire extortion racket under the garb of electoral bonds have been orchestrated hand in glove with officials of BJP at various levels,” Mr. Iyer alleged.

The complainant had initially approached the jurisdictional Tilaknagar police station with a complaint on March 30this year , and then approached DCP Bengaluru South East in April 2024. Since there was no action, he moved the court and filed a private complaint seeking necessary directions from Special Court exclusively to deal with criminal cases related to elected MPs/MLAs in the State of Karnataka.

Published - September 28, 2024 05:00 pm IST