The Karnataka high court on Monday stayed an investigation into a first information report (FIR) registered against Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union health minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda and others for allegedly extorting money through the now-scrapped electoral bond scheme of political funding.
A bench of justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order on a petition filed by BJP member Nalin Kumar Kateel, who is also one of the accused and has challenged the criminal complaint.
“In this case, permitting further proceedings at least until the objections have been filed would be an abuse of the process of law. Therefore, further proceedings are stayed until the next date,” the bench said.
On Saturday, an FIR was registered against Sitharaman, Nadda, ED officials and several others on charges of extortion and criminal conspiracy on the directions of a Bengaluru court the previous day. The complaint alleged that the accused “committed extortion under the guise and garb of electoral bonds” and benefited to the tune of ₹8,000 crore.
The registration of the case triggered a political row, with the Congress seeking Sitharaman’s resignation for “undermining democracy”.
{{/usCountry}}The registration of the case triggered a political row, with the Congress seeking Sitharaman’s resignation for “undermining democracy”.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP hit back, saying the Congress is “rattled” by a Karnataka high court order to probe chief minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA scam. The Congress is trying to shift attention, the party said.