The Karnataka High Court on September 30 (Monday) put a hold on an investigation into a first information report (FIR) filed against JP Nadda, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nirmala Sitharaman, the union minister of health, and other individuals for allegedly extorting money through the now-cancelled electoral bond scheme of political funding.
The ruling was made in response to a plea submitted by BJP member Nalin Kumar Kateel, who is also an accused party and has contested the criminal case. Justice M Nagaprasanna’s panel made the decision.
It would be a violation of the legal process to allow additional procedures to continue in this matter, at least until the objections have been filed. Consequently, the bench decided to postpone further proceedings until a later date.
On the orders of a Bengaluru court the day before, an FIR was filed on Saturday against Nirmala Sitharaman, Nadda, ED personnel, and numerous other people on allegations of extortion and criminal conspiracy. According to the charge, the accused obtained ₹8,000 crore through extortion “under the guise and garb of electoral bonds.”
A political backlash resulted from the case’s registration, as the Congress demanded Sitharaman’s resignation for “undermining democracy.”
Retaliating, the BJP claimed that the Karnataka high court’s directive to look into Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s involvement in the MUDA scam has “rattled” the Congress. The Congress is trying to deflect attention, the party stated.