BRS MLAs poaching case transferred to CBI; SIT investigation quashed

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday transferred the investigation into the BRS MLAs poaching case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. GO62, constituting the Special Investigation Team (SIT), was also quashed. The probe so far done by the SIT was also quashed.

Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy passed an order in connection with the three writ petitions filed by the three accused in the MLA poaching case. However, the writ petition filed by T. Premender Reddy, Telangana BJP general secretary, was dismissed though the plea of Premender Reddy is similar to that of the three accused seeking a CBI probe because it is a case between the state and the accused and the BJP is a third party and is not maintainable.

Minutes after this order, The state government requested that today's order be kept in suspension until the final copy of the Telangana High Court's Judgment is received. The state government has asked not to implement this judgment till the copy of the order is received

On the plea of the Advocate General Banda Shivananda Prasad, the High Court placed the judgment in suspension pending the receipt of a copy of the final judgment.

Crime

Cyberabad police busted an alleged 'defection' attempt in which three persons, including a religious man tried to 'lure' four Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs to leave the party.

Stephen Raveendra-Commissioner of Police-Cyberabad and team on 26th October night, carried out a surprise 'search' at a farm house located in Aziz Nagar-Moinabad. The search was based on a tip off received from BRS MLAs that some persons have been luring four MLAs to leave the TRS party. Three accused. DPSKVN Simhayaji, Kore Nandu Kumar, and Ramachandra Bharati were caught red-handed by the police on October 26 when they were trying to lure Rohit Reddy, TRS MLA from Tandur, to switch sides.

"The MLAs were offered cash, contracts and posts in return. The searches were carried out based on the information given by the TRS MLAs" the commissioner confirmed.

Earlier TS govt withdraws general consent to CBI

The Telangana government has withdrawn the general consent granted to the state's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). According to a state government directive issued on August 30, a prior agreement of the government is required for the central investigation agency to investigate cases in the state. Though dated two months back, the government order (G.O.) was not publicly available. On Saturday, the Additional Advocate General (AAG) informed the Telangana High Court, during arguments on a petition filed by the BJP seeking a CBI probe into the TRS MLAs poaching case, that the state government had withdrawn its general consent for the CBI.

According to the G.O., "The Government of Telangana hereby withdraws all previous general consents issued by the State Government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (Central Act XXV of 1946), via any letters or notifications, including the Notification issued in G.O.Ms.No.160, Home (S.C.) Department, dt.23.09.2016, to all the Members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the State of Telangana."

According to Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, the CBI needs consent from the respective state governments to conduct investigations in their jurisdictions. If the general consent is revoked, the agency must obtain authorization from the state government before filing a complaint.