A view of the Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. FIle
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The Supreme Court on Thursday (August 29, 2024) orally said it would appoint a Special Prosecutor for the trial in the 2015 cash-for-vote scam case in which Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is involved.
A Bench headed by Justice BR Gavai observed it would pass a formal order at 2 p.m. after consultations with the Telangana judiciary.
The Bench was hearing a petition filed by BRS MLA Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy seeking a transfer of the trial from Telangana to another State.
Senior advocate CA Sundaram alleged the accused had threatened the police officers investigating the case on coming to power in the State. The trial would not be fair as Mr. Revanth Reddy was both Chief Minister and Home Minister of Telangana.
Also Read: Raja Singh backs Telangana CM on demolitions, alleges MIM leaders encroached 12 acres of lake
Justice Gavai said the apex court had full confidence in the impartiality of the Telangana judiciary. The top court’s decision to appoint a Special Prosecutor was meant as a measure to bolster public confidence in the prosecution. The court said it intended to dispose of the petition filed by Jagadish Reddy for transfer of the trial after appointing the Special Prosecutor.
On May 31, 2015, Mr. Revanth Reddy, then with the Telugu Desam Party, was apprehended by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) while allegedly paying ₹50 lakh bribe to Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in the legislative council elections. In July 2015, the ACB had filed a charge sheet against Reddy and others under the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
On January 5, the apex court had deferred till February the hearing of Mr. Revanth Reddy’s separate petition challenging a High Court order dismissing his plea questioning the jurisdiction of an ACB court in conducting the trial in the cash-for-vote scam case.
Mr. Reddy has challenged in the Supreme Court the June 1, 2021 order of the High Court by which his plea questioning the jurisdiction of the Special Court to conduct the trial in the case was dismissed.
