HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State general secretary Gujjala Premender Reddy seeking transfer of the ‘Poachgate’ case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).The high court also rejected the petitioner’s plea for a halt to the ongoing probe into the case by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Telangana government.
The court, however, asked the SIT headed by Hyderabad City Commissioner of Police (CP) CV Anand to continue the investigation but made it clear that it should not report to any authority, either political or executive, but submit the report to the single judge bench in a sealed envelope by November 29.
No leaks please: HC
The bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy further directed the SIT not to reveal the progress of the inquiry to any authority or the media. “There shall be no selective leakage of investigation or investigational material. It would be the responsibility of the Hyderabad City CP to ensure that this is strictly adhered to,” the court said.
The bench also ruled that the single judge must guarantee that the investigation’s progress, including information to be provided in a sealed cover, is brought before him.Vidyanathan Chitambaresh, appearing for Premender Reddy, told the court that his client was asking for a directive to hand over the investigation to the SIT or CBI because it has national ramifications and there won’t be a fair trial because the local police are ‘cosy’ with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Discrepancies, says counsel
“The ‘panchanama’ proceedings were drafted on October 26, 2022, at 12.30 pm, and concluded at 14.30 pm the same day, whereas the witnesses’ and officials’ signatures were taken on October 27. This is a critical discrepancy that calls into question the very validity of the investigation conducted,” counsel said.
Prior to the commencement of the probe, the Hyderabad City CP distributed the full video and audio clips to several private TV channels, counsel said. The four TRS MLAs were reportedly transported to the CMO, leaving the accused at the farmhouse, he alleged, adding that the BJP is a national party and shouldn’t be put at the mercy of the local police.
In response to these arguments, senior counsel Dushyant Dave, representing the Telangana government, told the court that the panchanama and process seizure took a long time because the investigation agency needed to gather a lot of records, pen drives, CDs, laptops, and other material. The seizure and panchanama processes continued after the offence was reported, until 8.30 pm on October 26, , he said.
Dave claimed that the date that was affixed to the punchnama as October 27 rather than October 26 was a typographical error.
CJ opens mystery parcel
After listening to both counsels for a while, CJ Bhuyan paused before turning to Dushyant Dave and making an astonishing revelation concerning a ‘parcel’ that had been sent to the Chief Justice Office by the TRS president’s office.
In front of the Chief Justice, the staff unzipped the cover and discovered a pen drive, CDs, and some other items. “A Chief Justice of another High Court called me and said that he had also received a package identical to the one I had received,” he said.
Dave was questioned by CJ Bhuyan about what the matter was related to.Without going into details regarding the parcel, Dave informed the court that the contents of the pen drive and CDs pertained to audio and video recordings of the alleged poaching of TRS MLAs by BJP workers in the Moinabad farmhouse.
Dushyant Dave’s apology
He offered an unconditional apology to the CJ and informed the court that this incident ought not have occurred because it is illegal. He added that he felt that he should have known better.Dave reiterated his argument that a criminal investigation into a case like this — where the MLAs of other parties are poached — should not be put on hold because the Supreme Court has repeatedly held in numerous judgments that a criminal investigation cannot be halted at the request of a third party.
He asserted that the BJP, currently in power, engaged in similar acts in the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa and attempted the same in Telangana. Dave told the court that everyone was aware of the current events in the nation and that the court might take judicial notice of them.The trio accused of trying to poach the MLAs have filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP)seeking bail, and the apex court has reiterated that the probe into cognisable offences punishable by less than seven years should not be halted, he said.