YSRCP MLA Ramakrishna Reddy moves SC seeking early hearing for the cash-for-vote scam

Amaravati: A YSRCP legislator has knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court of India seeking an early hearing in the controversial cash-for-vote scam involving Congress MP A Revanth Reddy.

YSRCP MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy has moved the apex court, stating, “The state (Telangana) police are not taking any step to further investigate the involvement of former AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and others. The first accused Revanth Reddy and the second accused Naidu are both highly influential persons. The state police are not in a position to investigate the case against the accused.”

However, the matter of fact is that the state police never investigated the case, as the Anti-Corruption Bureau working on it. Three agencies are primarily involved in the five-year-old cash-for-vote scam — Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax, and Anti-Corruption Bureau.

So far, none of the investigating agencies has zeroed down on the source of Rs 50 lakh. The amount was offered as a bribe to nominated Anglo-Indian MLA Elvis Stephenson to vote in favour of TDP in the MLC election in 2015. However, Elvis filed a complaint with the ACB with Malcom Taylor as his eyewitness. The complaint led to the sting operation that nailed Revanth Reddy, who at the time was a TDP MLA.

In 2015, ACB authorities caught Revanth Reddy red-handed while he was offering the bribe to TRS MLA Stephenson. Later, a recording of a phone conversation, allegedly between Chandrababu Naidu and Elvis Stephenson emerged. In the phone call, the alleged voice of Naidu assured Elvis of his full support.

In his petition, Ramakrishna Reddy further said, “In 2017, the state investigating agency filed a supplementary charge sheet. More than a year has passed, and the state police had not investigated the involvement of Naidu as an accused. In the supplementary charge sheet, the investigating agency has completely ignored the telephone conversation between Naidu and Elvis Stephenson.”