The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Note for Vote case on October 4. This case involves the former Member of Legislative Council, Elvis Stephenson, who was allegedly offered Rs 50 lakh in cash to cast his vote in favor of the Telugu Desam party during the MLC elections.
YSR Congress MLA Alla Ramakrishna filed a petition to include Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu as an accused in the case, which gained notoriety as the 'Cash-for-vote' scam in 2015. It is alleged that Naidu offered money to secure Stephenson's vote.
Currently, Naidu is also facing other legal cases related to AP Skill Development, Amaravati Inner Ring Road, and AP FibreNet.
The hearing for the petition will be conducted by a bench comprising Justice MM Sundaresh and Justice Sanjay Kumar on October 4.
In his petition, Ramakrishna Reddy argued that Naidu's name was mentioned multiple times in the charge sheet filed by the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) special court. Therefore, Reddy insisted that Naidu should be included as a prime accused in this case. Earlier, the Mangalagiri MLA had stated that the ACB allegedly failed to conclude the investigation satisfactorily.
Ramakrishna Reddy had previously approached the ACB court in Hyderabad, pointing out that although the initial ACB report mentioned Naidu's name 22 times in the Cash for Vote scam, he was not named as an accused. In his petition, Reddy urged the court to direct the Telangana ACB to recognize Naidu as the main accused.
On August 29, 2016, the principal special judge of the ACB court in Hyderabad directed the ACB, Telangana, to re-investigate the case and submit its report by September 29. The ACB, in response, filed a memorandum stating that a re-probe was unnecessary, but they would submit a report on the evidence against Naidu.
Challenging this, Naidu appealed to the common high court at that time, seeking to annul the ACB court order. Naidu questioned the legitimacy of Ramakrishna Reddy approaching the Telangana ACB court for a fresh investigation.
Hearing Naidu’s plea, Justice Raja Elango on September 3, 2016, stayed the ACB court orders and instructed the ACB to present its counterarguments for a full hearing after eight weeks. In their counterargument, the ACB stated that there was no need for a re-investigation as they had thoroughly examined the case.
In December 2016, Justice Sunil Chowdary of the common high court delivered the final verdict, dismissing the ACB court's orders. This decision provided significant relief to Naidu, as he was spared from being probed by the ACB in the cash-for-vote scam.
The high court ruled that Ramakrishna Reddy lacked the standing to seek a probe against Naidu in this case since he was neither an aggrieved party nor had any direct involvement in the matter.
Disagreeing with this verdict, MLA Ramakrishna Reddy approached the Supreme Court in 2017. He sought directions to include Chandrababu Naidu's name as an accused and also petitioned the apex court to transfer the probe in the Cash for Vote scam from Telangana ACB to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Reddy alleged that the Telangana ACB had taken contradictory positions regarding investigating Naidu's role, both at the ACB Court and the common high court in Hyderabad.
These two petitions have been pending in the Supreme Court since 2017.
Naidu's legal representatives countered these petitions, asserting that Ramakrishna Reddy lacked the necessary standing to file these cases. Finally, after several years, these cases are scheduled for a hearing on October 4. MLA Reddy expressed hope for justice as the Supreme Court prepares to resume the hearing of the petition.
