The Supreme Court of India, had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation, for not continuing the investigation into an alleged conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party to poach Telangana’s Bharati Rashtra Samiti legislators.
A division bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice MM Sundresh on Friday gave the same warning to the Telangana police.
The bench gave this caution while it was hearing the state police’s plea against a decision of the Telangana High Court to transfer a probe into the conspiracy from a special investigation team appointed by the state government to the CBI.
Justice Khanna said, that the Telangana police is also not suppose to continue the investigation.
The Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who had come on behalf of the state police, has assured about investigation been put on hold on account of the matter being sub judice.
The senior counsel told the bench that the investigation has been stopped long back. It added that even though on the last day of the hearing, the bench had directed the matter to be listed on a non-miscellaneous day in the week commencing from Monday, July 31, it was listed today as formal notice had not been issued.
Advocate Dave also apprised the bench that the central agency and the union government had not appeared before the high court.
Justice Khanna said that CBI had to be present,although centre was not required.
The bench said that some of the respondents in the special leave petition are unrepresented. Respondents 2 (union) and 17 (CBI) have not been issued notice. Notice need not be issued to the Union of India but will be issued to the central agency. Serve notice to remaining respondents by all means including dasti.
The case dates back to October 26, 2022, when Tandur MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy had lodged a first information report alleging that three persons had met him, asking him not to contest the elections as candidate of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party. Instead, he was allegedly asked to resign from BRS.
Reddy claimed that he was ‘offered’ Rs 100 crore, along with contract works of the Central government, for the same. The BRS MLA further alleged that the accused threatened to lodge criminal cases against him in case he did not agree to their proposal.
On the basis of his complaint, an FIR was registered at Moinabad Police Station under Sections 120B, 171B, 171E, and 506 of IPC r/w Section 34 of IPC and under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
BJP then filed a writ petition before the Telangana High Court, seeking transfer of investigation to either SIT or CBI for a free and fair probe. The High Court of Telangana had permitted the state government-constituted Special Investigation Team on November 15 last year to continue its probe into the MLA poaching case, and also ordered that a Single-Judge Bench of the High Court would monitor the progress of investigation.
The directions were quashed by the Supreme Court on November 21, which directed the High Court to decide the plea for CBI probe moved by three accused afresh.