HYDERABAD: After nearly three hours of arguments by senior counsel Dushyant Dave on Wednesday, a bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji on Wednesday asked the parties in a batch of writ petitions to make written submissions before the next date of hearing on January 30, 2023.
Dave, representing the BRS MLAs in the Poachgate case, requested the court during his opening arguments that whatever ruling this bench issues in the case be postponed for 15 days. If the State’s writ appeals are permitted, the BJP and the three accused will file an appeal with the Supreme Court and if the State’s appeals are denied, it will file an appeal with the apex court, he said, urging the bench to put its order in abeyance.
‘Santhosh intimidating’
Senior counsel informed the court that BJP national general secretary BL Santhosh had threatened the SIT and the officers who were part of the investigation team after the single judge issued an order directing the CBI to investigate. Dave reminded that Santhosh was the same man who prayed this court for immunity from arrest and now his actions are undermining the court’s authority. Reminding that BR Ambedkar had emphasised the importance of rule of law and democracy, he said that the court should not enable offenders to break the core of this democracy.
Reading out the judgement pronounced by the single judge asking the CBI to investigate the case, Dave stated that the order is a bundle of inconsistencies and is susceptible to be thrown out. “No one has called the FIR lodged at Moinabad PS into doubt. Neither the three accused nor the BJP found issue with the inquiry. So, how can the single judge overturn the SIT investigation?” he asked
Dave reminded that the Supr-eme Court has repeatedly ruled that investigations shouldn’t be abandoned, especially while they’re just getting started, and that doing so would be in violation of the court’s instructions. “The single judge had noted in his orders that the inquiry was not conducted correctly, but the judgement does not specify who conducted the investigation wrongly or how,” he said.
Probe most scientific
Senior counsel said that the investigation was carried out by the SIT in the most scientific manner possible -- it was led by the CP, and the SIT members included IPS officers who solved some serious crimes. “However, the investigation’s unfairness and bias were not supported by facts, which is clearly against the Supreme Court’s directives that the courts must provide compelling evidence to support their judgements when making decisions,” he said.
Can’t dismiss SIT arbitrarily
Since neither an allegation against SIT officers nor an inquiry into them existed, the SIT investigation cannot be dismissed arbitrarily, he said, adding that evidence has been gathered, including audio, video, and conversations between the three accused and senior BJP officials, whose names were revealed. Three of the accused clearly conspired to overthrow the constitutionally elected BRS government in coordination with the BJP, Dave said.
Pointing out that it has been more than two months since the case was registered, he said that it was sad commentary that we weren’t able to persuade courts to proceed with an investigation into such a serious case.
Dave said that an agreement had been reached between the BJP and the three accused. “One rejects the CBI inquiry, the other rejects the SIT. The Court’s sole remaining alternative is to permit the SIT to continue its investigation of the matter. As the inquiry is still in its early stages, the BJP and the three accused cannot make contradictory statements,” he said.