MLAs poaching case: TS HC directs 3 accused not to leave Hyd for next 24 hrs

Hyderabad: In an interim order in the four TRS MLAs poaching case, the Telangana High Court directed the three accused not to leave Hyderabad for the next 24 hours.

On Friday evening, a High Court Single Bench headed by Dr. Justice Chillakur Sumalatha heard the criminal revision petition filed by the Cyberabad police seeking a direction to set aside the order passed by the additional special judge for SPE and ACB cases, Hyderabad, rejecting the remand of Nanda Kumar, owner of Deccan Pride Hotel in Hyderabad; Swami Ramachandra Bharati alias S. Satish Sharma from Faridabad; and Simha Yajulu from Tirupati.

Advocate general Banda Shivananda Prasad informed the court that the additional special judge has wrongly rejected the remand of the three accused as the police have considerable material evidence to prove that they were involved in the poaching of four TRS MLAs and sought to quash the ACB order.

Further, AG Prasad said the order of the ACB judge is contrary to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar judgment.

Moreover, it's a criminal conspiracy against the Telangana government and there is an urgency in this case as there is the probability of the three accused fleeing the country, and in this event, the investigation will be hampered, AG Prasad informed the court.

Justice Chillakur Sumalatha directed the three accused not to leave Hyderabad for the next 24 hours.

Moreover, the accused will have to furnish their residential addresses to the commissioner of police, Cyberabad.

Further, Justice Sumalatha directed the three accused not to indulge in any activity like contacting the de-facto complainant Rohit Reddy, the TRS party's Tandur MLA, or trying to influence the witnesses directly or indirectly for the next 24 hours.

Justice Chillakur Sumalatha issued notices to the three accused and other respondents. The hearing in the criminal revision case will continue on 29 October, when it will be disposed of.

Mr. Vedula Srinivas, senior counsel appearing for the three accused sought time till Saturday to place his arguments.

All three accused men are alleged to be involved in the poaching of four TRS MLAs and luring them to join the BJP.

What is the poaching case?

The Cyberabad police on Thursday filed a criminal case against three persons who were detained from a farmhouse in Hyderabad on Wednesday night with a "huge amount of cash" for allegedly trying to poach four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The FIR was lodged based on a complaint lodged by TRS MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy—one of the four MLAs allegedly lured with huge cash—at the Moinabad police station under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 171-B r/w 171-E 506 r/w 34 (offering bribe for electoral gains) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 8 of Prevention of Corruption Act,1988.