Posted: Updated – Tue, 11/15/22, 03:55pm
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday rejected the BJP’s request to refer the TRS MLA poaching case to the CBI, but left the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case independently.
The court also ruled that a judge will oversee investigations into cases related to the arrest of three alleged BJP agents who “lured” four MLAs of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) into the BJP camp.
A division judge led by Chief Justice Ujwal Bhuyan directed the SIT, led by Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand, not to brief the state and its bosses on the state’s progress. SIT has been asked to report to the court, not anyone else. The team has also been directed not to leak information to the media.
The court passed the orders while dealing with the BJP’s petition seeking a CBI investigation.
It asked SIT to submit an investigation progress report to the court on November 29.
Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Simhayaji and Nandakumar were arrested by Cyberabad Police at a farmhouse in Moinabad near Hyderabad on the night of October 26 for allegedly trying to lure four MLAs from TRS with huge sums of money.
Cyberabad police conducted the raid based on tip-offs from an MLA pilot, Rohit Reddy. He claimed that the accused offered him Rs 1 billion and Rs 500 crore to each of the other three.
The accused was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
On October 29, the High Court suspended its investigation into the case and asked the state government and other defendants to rebut the BJP’s petition. The court lifted the stay on November 8.
The state government formed the SIT on November 9 to investigate the case. It is headed by the Hyderabad police chief and includes six other police officers.
At a press conference on 3 November, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao released evidence in the case, including video footage of the conversation between the accused and mutual legal assistance.
The accused named a number of top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
BJP leader Parmender Reddy has filed a petition in the High Court calling for an investigation by the CBI as he expressed concern that the state government’s probe will not be impartial.
