After the Congress came to power in Telangana and PCC president A Revanth Reddy became the chief minister, everybody thought the cash-for-vote scandal against him would be given a quiet burial and the state anti-corruption bureau (ACB), which is probing the case, will quietly withdraw the case.
However, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) led by former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is actively pursuing the case and in fact, is trying to hard to see that the trial in the case be speeded up in an obvious bid to corner Revanth Reddy.
The BRS leaders moved the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the cash-for-vote case from the trial court in Telangana to another state. On Friday, the Supreme Court issued notice to Revanth Reddy on this petition,
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to all the parties, including Revanth Reddy asking them to file a counter within four weeks, in the petition which has suggested that the trial be transferred to the neighbouring States of Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh.
The transfer petition raises concern that a fair trial against Reddy would not be possible within Telangana given his present status as the chief minister.
The petition has been filed by four lawmakers belonging to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party - MLAs Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy and Kalvakuntla Sanjay and Members of the Legislative Council (MLC), Satyavathi Rathod and Mohd. Mahmood Ali.
The petitioners have sought transfer of the trial in two connected corruption cases, which are presently pending before a trial court in Hyderabad.
The cases involve allegations that in 2015, Reddy offered Rs 50 lakh as an advance on a multi-crore bribe to a nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson for his vote in the 2015 elections to the Telangana MLC.
The petitioners added that the said advance was allegedly paid on the directions of Reddy's "former boss" and present Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu.
It is alleged that the bribe was paid to persuade Stephenson from either abstaining from casting his vote for MLC elections or to vote in favour of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), to which party Reddy belonged in 2015 before his eventual shift to the Congress party in 2017.
The petitioners added that Reddy and other persons accused in this cash-for-votes scam were caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Hyderabad city police in 2015, after which the corruption cases were registered in the matter on a complaint by Stephenson.
However, the petitioners have now asserted that a fair trial in these cases would not be possible in Telangana since the prime accused Revanth Reddy is presently the chief minister as well as its home minister of Telangana.
As such, the Directorate of Prosecution of the ACB is now "answerable and directly under the control" of Reddy, the plea states.
It is also highlighted that Reddy presently has "88 pending cases" against him before various courts in Telangana which, the petition says, "clearly indicates that he has a rich criminal background."
The petitioners further claim that Reddy has threatened senior police officers in Telangana on many occasions and is more than capable of transferring sincere police officials to ensure that the corruption case against him ends in an acquittal.
Moreover, the accused persons have tried to file several applications over the years on one pretext or the other to delay the trial in the 2015 case, it was claimed.
Therefore, the petitioners have now urged the court to transfer the trial in cash-for-votes scam out of Telangana to a neighbouring State like Madhya Pradesh.
