MLA Poaching case: TS govt challenges CBI probe order; seeks immediate stay

Telangana government has challenged the High Court order of handing over the MLA poaching case investigation to the CBI.

On Thursday, Dushyant Dave, Senior Counsel appearing for Telangana State, sought immediate suspension of the order.

He said though the petitioners had never asked to quash SIT investigation, the single-judge bench quashed the probe. Moreover, the investigation was done scientifically. The SIT collected all audio, and video conversations from the Moinabad Farmhouse and sent them to FSL.

Quoting Supreme Court, Dave said the investigation should be handed over to CBI only when the case is rarest of the rare. He said there was no such aspect in the MLA poaching case.

Under Section 6 of the Delhi Police Act, no other investigating agency can probe the case in the state. He said if the High Court directs the CBI to investigate the BRS MLA poaching case, then it will affect the federal structure of the country. Because BRS is an elected government and it will affect more than 3 crore voters in the state, he said.

Dave sought an interim stay on the single-judge order. He said if the CBI takes over the investigation, then the appeals filed by the state will become infructuous.

He said the single-judge order is a bundle of contradictions. He said police have every right to investigate a case. He said when the Investigation was going in the right manner, the single judge quashed it.

The single judge has declared complete distrust in the state police by handing over the investigation to CBI. The audio and video show that the accused were conspiring to topple the duly elected BRS government.

WhatsApp conversations and photographs with top BJP leaders were placed before the court. He said this aspect could have created some seriousness. The BJP in its petition nowhere sought to quash FIR.

BJP, the petitioner in one of the writ petitions, sought an investigation by any other neutral agency... They also didn't ask for a CBI probe in the first instance. Despite this, the single judge transferred the case to CBI, he said.

He said the judge in the order said there is nothing wrong with the Chief Minister holding a press conference. But then goes on to say that the entire audio and videos were illegally collected, he said.

"BJP is accused. Accused BL Santosh, B. Srinivas, Tushar, and Jaggu Swami approached the High Court and got a stay on 41A Crpc notices. They never appeared before the Special Investigation Team as they were shielded by the BJP," he said.

Dave pointed out that the BJP at the centre has toppled governments in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, and North Eastern States> he said the BJP wanted to repeat it in Telangana, which was meticulously thwarted.

Chief Minister never invited the three accused to have a conversation with Rohit Reddy. They approached the complainant and walked into the trap.

Gandra Mohan Rao, Senior counsel appearing for Pilot Rohith Reddy, informed the court that the complainant took a lot of risk in complaining against the three accused. Despite knowing very well that Central Investigating agencies under the BJP will hound him, he complained.

All the accused have approached the Court but none have made him party except in one writ petition

He said a single judge found fault with the third CD, which contained a conversation between the three accused and the complainant Rohit Reddy.

"There was nothing more than that in the CD because the judge reserved the order on December 16 and pronounced it on December 26. By this time, the entire information, which was in the CD was in the public domain," he said

DVV Seetharama Murthy, senior counsel appeared for the three accused, Nandu Kumar, Ramchander Bharati, and Simhyaji, argued that Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy passed the order because malafides are alleged in the investigation. Hence, an appeal against that order should be made in the Supreme Court, not before this Division Bench.

The single judge has exercised Criminal Jurisdiction under article 226 and prayed to the Division Bench to dismiss the appeals filed by the state.

When Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan asked Dushyant Dave whether he has any objection to the contention raised by DVV Seetharama Murthy, to which he said that if the order is passed on the criminal jurisdiction side, then it should be suspended immediately as the BJP has not sought to quash FIR.

Senior counsel argued that all the four MLAs and the complainant, who are alleged to have been poached, originally belong to the Congress party and later switched to the TRS.