HYDERABAD: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Thursday decided to hear the petition filed by YSRC MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy seeking to hand over the cash-for-vote scam case to the CBI instead of the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau. He also prayed for naming former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu as an accused in the FIR registered in the said case. The SC will hear the case on July 14, 2021.
The Apex Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian passed this order while disposing of the earlier hearing application filed by Ramakrishna Reddy.According to the MLA, the case was last heard in March 2018. He later filed an expedite petition before the court with a plea to have an early hearing of the said case. As the case was not listed since then, he had now filed an application seeking for an early hearing.
There was evidence about involvement of Naidu in the cash-for-vote scam, Alla stated. The audio tapes of phone conversation of Naidu and TRS nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson had clearly shown the involvement of the former in the case and the forensic report had also confirmed it. Hence, the case should be handed over for CBI probe as the Telangana ACB was not probing the case properly, the MLA said. In May 2015, the then TDP MLA A Revanth Reddy was caught red-handed by the ACB authorities while he was offering bribe to Stephenson.
‘Hand over case to CBI’
The case should be handed over to the CBI as the Telangana ACB was not probing properly, prayed YSRC MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy