MLA poaching case: T’gana HC refuses to transfer case to CBI
The bench allowed the SIT, headed by Hyderabad police commissioner CV Anand, to continue the investigation under the supervision of the court and not the government.
The Telangana high court on Tuesday refused to transfer the case of alleged attempt to poach four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) legislators into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A division bench of the high court, led by chief justice Ujjal Bhuyan, allowed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana police to continue its probe and submit a progress report exclusively to the court on November 29.
The high court bench, also comprising justice CV Bhaskar Reddy, rejected the review petition filed by BJP state general secretary G Premender Reddy, who sought an impartial probe by CBI, citing his party had no faith in the SIT constituted by the TRS-led state government.
The bench allowed the SIT, headed by Hyderabad police commissioner CV Anand, to continue the investigation under the supervision of the court and not the government.
A single-judge bench of the high court will monitor the investigation into the case pertaining to the arrest of three people attempting to lure four TRS legislators into the BJP, the court said. It, however, barred the SIT from disclosing its investigation reports with political and executive authorities, including the chief minister’s office (CMO). The team has also been directed not to leak information to the media.
The bench directed the SIT to submit a report to the court on November 29 on the progress of the investigation.
Welcoming the judgment, petitioner Premender Reddy said the court has ensured transparency of the investigation.
“The high court also expressed displeasure about the manner in which the investigation was publicised through the chief minister’s press meet and said the same ought to be confidential to protect transparency and fairness,” Reddy said.
He claimed that the state government’s counsel assured the court that the mistake would never be repeated and the same was recorded by the court.
On October 26, the Cyberabad police detained three people — Nanda Kumar, a hotelier from Hyderabad; Swami Ramachandra Bharati alias S Satish Sharma from Faridabad; and Simhayajulu from Tirupati — at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad, while they were allegedly trying to lure four MLAs of the ruling TRS (BRS) party.
Addressing a press conference on November 3, chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao released video tapes that purportedly showed the accused offering huge sums of money, important posts in the BJP and central government contracts to the four TRS MLAs — Pilot Rohit Reddy, Guvvala Balaraju, B Harshavardhan Reddy and Rega Kantha Rao.
Though an anti-corruption bureau (ACB) court ordered the release of the accused on October 27 on technical ground, they were arrested a day later following a high court order. They have since been lodged in the Chanchalguda central prison in Hyderabad.
On the same day, the BJP general secretary filed a petition in the high court seeking a CBI probe into the case. The high court on October 29 stayed the ongoing investigation and asked the state government and other respondents to file the counter on BJP leader’s petition.
The court, however, lifted the stay on the investigation November 8, following the state government constituted a seven-member SIT to probe the case the following case.
