He said the petitioners filed multiple applications in the High Court under different names just to evade the investigation process.
UPDATE – 11:58 PM, TUESDAY – DECEMBER 22
file photo.
Hyderabad: Telangana High Court Judge B Vijaysen Reddy on Tuesday heard a batch of cases related to the MLA poachinggate investigation inconclusively. The court has yet to examine whether notice can be given to Chief Minister K. Chandra Shekhar Rao, who has become a party in the case brought by Tushar Vellampally. Additional Attorney-General J Ramachandra Rao asked the court to rule on the matter after recording their preliminary objections. Today, Dushant Dave, presenting his arguments on behalf of the state’s top prosecutor, summed up his arguments by stating that the BJP’s efforts were to delay the case and hinder the investigation.
He said the petitioners filed multiple applications in the High Court under different names just to evade the investigation process. He argued that the defendants could not select the investigative agency by referring to various Supreme Court judgments including Anab Goswami’s. He added that there was no malice during the investigation and that the investigation cannot be sabotaged at the initial stage, he added. Dave argued that only in rare circumstances could a court intervene in an investigation, and only to the extent that records were requested.
Dave pointed out that the conviction rate in India is so low that if the investigation is challenged like this, there will be no proper justice. He said the case involved serious crimes, including encouraging defections by MLAs in an attempt to overthrow the state government, and that its implications for the functioning of democracy were considerable because buying MLAs would affect the hundreds of thousands of people who elected them.
Uday Holla, a senior lawyer representing Srinivas, one of the defendants, said the investigation was unfair because the witnesses, the investigative agency and the prosecutor were one and the same, i.e. the actions of the police had beneficial to the national government. He said, “We are not challenging the FIR, we are just saying that the investigation should be transferred to the CBI. Srinivas was implicated on the grounds that he took a photo with the union minister and provided legal assistance to one of the accused,” Hora argued. Police posted notices at Srinivas’ residence and leaked them to the media to damage his reputation. He said that in this case, Srinivas was forced to appoint the BJP chairman, so the investigating agency flouted the law.
Meanwhile, when the judge reminded lawyers about the Supreme Court’s directive to end hearings within a month, Dave said the court did not need to hear all the batches at once because the Supreme Court’s order was for the case by three lead defendants, Nand Submitted by Kumar, Simhyaji and Ramachandra Bharati. The judge allowed Senior Counsel Mr Mahesh Jethmalani to represent the three lead accused to appear in court for virtual arguments via video conference. The judge will continue hearing the matter on Wednesday.
PIL on Dharnani portel Archives
On Tuesday, a two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy took up an automatic public interest action relating to discrepancies in the Dharani Portal. According to a letter filed by lawyer Rapolu Bhaskar, the court has accepted the suo moto case. Disgruntled, the government has illegally uploaded about 800,000 acres of patta land in Dharani Portal as forbidden land. Farmers and commoners are suffering at the hands of tax officials unable to correct their titles as officials demand lakhs of rupees for correction. According to the letter, citizens across the state are awaiting the issuance of Dharani entries and electronic passbooks for their respective lands after acquiring the patta lands from their ancestors and conducting valid sales transactions. The panel sought a response from the state government and adjourned the case.
