The two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji, did not reach a conclusion, hearing arguments on the appeal in the MLA poaching case.
Post Date – 11:15 PM, Friday – 1/6/23
Hyderabad: Two judges of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji heard arguments on the appeal in the MLA poaching case inconclusively on Friday.
The court heard arguments for about three hours from Senior Counsel L Ravichander and DV Seetharamurthy representing the accused in the case and Senior Counsel C Damodhar Reddy representing the state wing of the BJP. The CBI also appeared in court to say that despite a formal request to the state chief secretary, SIT had not handed over the investigative material to them.
In response, the judge noted that it was dealing with the matter and the CBI could wait. It also assured the central agency that it would provide an opportunity for the CBI to submit comments.
Lawyers for the defendants argued that 37 MLAs from other political parties had defected to the BRS since 2014, and claimed that the state government did not have the credibility to challenge the defections. They argued that the police were part of a pre-planned case registration and execution, and they said the defendants sought an independent agency investigation because the state constituted SIT in a “suspicious” way.
The judge will resume the case on Jan. 9.
