Karnataka High Court quashes FIR against BJP National President JP Nadda

Dharwad: The Dharwad Bench of the Karnataka High Court has quashed the FIR registered against the BJP National President JP Nadda on Monday , the charge of luring voters.

The FIR was registered in Harpanahalli police station of Vijayanagar district during the assembly elections. On May 11, the police had voluntarily filed an FIR against Nadda, who had given a speech in an open meeting on May 7, 2023. Nadda approached the High Court requesting its quashing.

The one-member bench, which heard the case, quashed the FIR and passed the verdict. Nadda had said in his speech that if the BJP loses in the assembly elections, the voters will have to be deprived of the schemes implemented by the central government. He also said that if the Congress comes to power in the state, many schemes of the Center including the Kisan Samman Nidhi will be stopped.

Officials of the election vigilance department complained to the Harappanahalli police station that this speech was a violation of the model code of conduct. The police registered an FIR and started an investigation. Later, Nadda filed an application in the High Court seeking quashing of the investigation.

A case was registered against BJP president JP Nadda under IPC Section 171F. JP Nadda's lawyer Vinod Kumar filed an application in the High Court seeking cancellation of the case. The court, in its verdict, said that the speech made by Nadda did not amount to any offense under Section 171F of the IPC. The court also said that the speech did not violate the model code of conduct.

With this verdict, the BJP national president has got relief from the case where he was facing the accusation of influencing the voters