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The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday issued an order quashing the FIR registered against former state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nalin Kumar Kateel in connection with the allegation of extortion in the name of electoral bonds.
The petition was filed by former MP Kateel, who is also co-accused in the case. A case was registered against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and others as directed by a special court following a complaint filed concerning election bond irregularities. Advocate KG Raghavan said that the FIR against Kateel has been quashed but the FIR against Sitharaman hasn't been quashed as they haven't filed a petition requesting to quash the same. "The bench ordered for quashing of FIR against Kateel. FIR against Nirmala Sitharaman hasn't been quashed as we haven't filed a petition requesting to quash FIR yet," he said. An FIR was registered against Sitharaman, ED officials and state and national level BJP office bearers under Sections 384 (punishment for extortion), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (acts committed by several persons with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). BJP State President BY Vijayendra was also named in the FIR. The complainant alleged that the accused extorted Rs 8,000 crore under the guise of election bonds. Adarsh R Iyer, co-founder of 'Janadhikar Sangharsh Parishad' (JSP) had filed a complaint alleging that he had received excessive benefits. The complainant filed the case in Tilaknagar, Bengaluru police station alleging that Sitharaman, with the help and support of ED officials, facilitated the extortion of thousands of crores of rupees for the benefit of other officials at the state and national levels. In February, the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme and declared it was unconstitutional. (ANI)
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