2015 cash-for-vote case: Trap laid by ACB illegal, Revanth tells SC

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy told the Supreme Court that the 2015 cash-for-vote trap laid by the Anti-Corruption Bureau was illegal, as it was conducted without an FIR. His counsel, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, argued that the prosecution was unsustainable under the Prevention of Corruption Act as it stood in 2015, which did not cover bribe givers.

New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the trap laid by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in the 2015 cash-for-vote case was “completely illegal” as it was done without any FIR registration.

On May 31, 2015, Congress leader Revanth Reddy, then with the Telugu Desam Party, was apprehended by the ACB while allegedly paying a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in the legislative council elections.

---

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Reddy on Wednesday, argued before a bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi that his prosecution as an alleged bribe giver was legally unsustainable.

“A trap was set up before an FIR was registered. The trap is completely illegal because no investigation can commence before the registration of an FIR under the CrPC. There was no general diary entry and no FIR,” Rohatgi submitted.

The senior lawyer argued that three persons were allegedly caught offering a bribe in the trap, and Reddy was being prosecuted under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which applied only to bribe takers and not bribe givers.

“I am being prosecuted under Section 12 of the PC Act as it stood in 2015. It relates to abetment of offences under Sections 7 and 11. But in 2010, bribe givers were not covered under those provisions; only bribe takers were,” Rohatgi said and added that the bribe giver was brought within the purview of the law only after the 2018 amendment.

Rohatgi said that even if the allegations attracted sections 7, 11, and 12 of the Act, these provisions applied only to acts done by a public servant in the discharge of official duty.

He said casting a vote or abstaining in a legislative council election was not an official act within the meaning of the law.

The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue tomorrow. Apart from Revanth Reddy, the ACB had arrested some others. All of them were later granted bail.

In July 2015, the ACB filed a charge sheet against Revanth Reddy and others for the alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The ACB had then claimed it had collected “clinching evidence” against the accused in the form of audio and video recordings, and recovered an advance amount of Rs 50 lakh.