Bengaluru Special Court Orders FIR Against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman For Alleged Extortion

The Special Court of Representatives in Bengaluru has directed the registration of an FIR against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and several others over allegations of extortion linked to now-scrapped Electoral bonds.

Adarsh Iyer, Co-President of the Janadhikar Sangharsa Parishad (JSP), lodged a complaint with the Special Court, accusing Sitharaman of engaging in extortion through intimidation related to electoral bonds. Following the hearing, the court instructed the Tilak Nagar police station in Bengaluru to initiate an FIR concerning the alleged extortion.

The petition, submitted in April at the 42nd ACMM court, also named several officials, including ED representatives, BJP National President JP Nadda, BJP National Leaders, former BJP Karnataka President Nalin Kumar Kateel, and B Y Vijayendra. After reviewing the complaint, the court mandated that the Tilak Nagar police proceed with the FIR.

Between April 2019 and August 2022, the complaint stated that approximately Rs 230 crore was collected from businessman Anil Agarwal's firm and Rs 49 crore from Aurobindo Pharma through election bonds.

It must be noted that the electoral bonds scheme, launched by the Centre in 2018, aimed to enhance transparency in political donations by replacing cash contributions with these bonds. However, the Supreme Court declared the scheme "unconstitutional" in February, asserting that it violated citizens' right to information about political funding.

In response, Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy stated, "The Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) is demanding my resignation and that of Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. They have called for an FIR. If the electoral bond money didn't go into her personal account, why should she resign? And why should I? There's nothing to be done regarding the Gangenahalli denotification issue."