TRS MLAs bribing case: Telangana HC stays probe till Nov 4, a day after Munugode bypoll

In an unexpected twist, the Telangana High Court on Saturday stayed all the investigations into the ‘TRS MLAs bribing’ case. Issuing notices to the eight respondents, the HC asked the state government to file a counter. The order has been issued in response to the petition filed by the BJP against the police investigation into the TRS MLA Rohit Reddy’s farmhouse episode.

On behalf of the BJP, petitioner G Premendar Reddy, general secretary of the party, argued that the FIR was politically motivated and meant to damage the party in the Munugode byelection.

“Going by the way the allegation has been levelled against the BJP and the manner in which the four TRS MLAs have been protected by the police and allowed to go off, clearly shows that the state is a party to the episode,” Reddy argued, urging the HC to refer the matter for an inquiry by the CBI or any other agency that is not under the supervision of the state.

Taking up the matter today, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy stopped the investigation till November 4 and asked the state to file a counter in the meantime. The polling for the Munugode by-election is scheduled on November 3.

Also watch: TRS MLA bribery case: Explosive audio leak puts BJP in the dock

Accused sent to remand

In another instance, the Telangana police secured the remand of the three accused in the ‘TRS MLAs Bribing’ case. High Court Bench chaired by Justice Sumalatha on Saturday allowed the cop’s revision petition seeking remand and ordered the accused to surrender before the Police Commissioner.

After listening to the argument that 41 A notices were not necessary as charges were serious in nature and the Arnesh Kumar Vs State of Bihar could be not taken into consideration in such cases, the HC was satisfied and asked the accused to surrender before the Cyberabad Police Commissioner. The state also argued that in the case of luring the MLAs with bribes, there is no need to seize the money.

The Bench had on Friday rejected the police petition stating that law and order police had little role in the cases related to the prevention of corruption. The court held that proper procedure had not been followed in the case while trapping the accused when they were purportedly attempting to offer the bribe. “The arrest should have been done by ACB alone and ACB procedure need to be followed,” the HC held.

It is to be recalled that the police have charged the accused with criminal conspiracy, bribery and attempting to bribe a public servant under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Citing that they had audio-visual recordings and text messages collected from the four mobiles seized from the accused, the polices sought remand for further investigation.

The HC was not convinced by the argument of Advocate General BS Prasad that the accused were taken into custody with a well-laid out plan while luring the TRS MLAs to defect to the BJP before the polling of Monugode byelection by offering Rs 100 crore as a bribe.

Today, finally, the HC issued orders in favour of Cyberabad Police.

Two days ago, an ACB court had also rejected the Cyberabad police plea that the accused Ramachandra Bharati, Simhayajulu and Nandakumar be remanded to the police. The police had then moved the HC stating the trial court had not seen the gravity of the case while ordering the immediate release of the accused. The trial court also felt that the arrest was not necessary at this stage.

Meanwhile, the state government upgraded the security of MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy, the alleged main target of BJP’s middlemen. Instead of 2+2 cover, now 4+4 gunmen will handle the security of Reddy. He has also been provided with a bulletproof car.

KCR silent

Meanwhile, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been maintaining a stoic silence on day three also on the whole issue. He appears to be unaffected by the provocative statements by state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay who demanded CM should swear by Yadagiri Gutta Lakshminarasimha Swamy that he had no role in the farmhouse ‘drama’. Even the four MLAs were out of bounds for the media who are thought to be kept in the confines of Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of the chief minister.

There was even talk that KCR would address the media but the reports were denied by party sources. Now the speculation is that KCR is planning to visit New Delhi in a day or two. Nothing more is heard than the CM holding closed-door meetings with key aides in the past two days.

Party sources indicated that the CM is expected to speak about the BJP’s attempt to topple his government before the Munugode public itself. “Addressing the votes is more important than the media in Hyderabad. The CM will reveal a few more startling aspects of the BJP game plan in the public meeting scheduled on October 30 in Chandur.”

Meanwhile, BJP Dubbaka MLA Raghunandan Rao said as many as 8 TRS MLAs had been in contact with BJP. “More MLAs would leave TRS once the Munugode byelection result is announced on November 6. Who wants to remain in TRS except for the family members of KCR,” asked Raghunandan, a star campaigner of the saffron party in the Munugode by-election.

KTR comments on the case

State municipal administration and IT minister KT Ramarao said there was no need to comment on the case as the investigation was underway. Releasing a chargesheet of failures of Prime Minister Modi’s government, KTR said, “Everything is in the public domain. Now, as a responsible government, we don’t want to make any comment that would be seen as influencing the investigation. At an appropriate time, either the police investigating the case or our party president and chief minister will respond appropriately on the subject.

Also read: KCR’s TRS turns BRS: Masterstroke or misadventure?

When asked about the state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay’s challenge to chief minister KCR to swear by god that he had no involvement in the MLAs bribery case, KTR said with Bandi’s visit, the Yadadri temple had got desecrated and it hurt the sentiments of devotees as well. He asked the temple authorities to think of performing the Samprokashana (consecration) of the temple.

“Yadadri temple got desecrated following the visit of a man (state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay) who carried chappals of a Gujarati boss. In my view, the temple needs cleansing,” KTR said.