Hearing in cash for vote case against Revanth Reddy posted to November 14

The case pertains to Revanth Reddy's alleged bribery attempt in 2015 to secure votes for TDP candidate Vem Narender Reddy, while he was a member of the Telugu Desam Party.

Hyderabad: The Nampally Metropolitan Sessions Court has posted Wednesday’s hearing in the cash-for-vote case against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to November 14, as the judge went on leave. Revanth Reddy, along with the other accused in the case, were slated to appear before the court on Wednesday.

The actual hearing was supposed to be on September 24. However, only one accused, Mathaiah Jerusalem, showed up, with the others, including Revanth Reddy, being absent. The case revolves around Revanth Reddy, when he was a member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2015, allegedly attempted to bribe nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson in lieu of his vote in favour of TDP candidate Vem Narender Reddy in the Legislative Council elections. The alleged bribe was of Rs.5 crore, with Rs.50 lakh paid as advance. The Anti-Corruption Bureau in a sting operation had nabbed Revanth Reddy offering the money.

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In 2021, the Enforcement Directorate also registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, charging him with money laundering based on witness testimony and video evidence.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has reportedly claimed that it has evidence to establish that Revanth Reddy was “directly involved” in money laundering and use of proceeds of crime worth Rs.50 lakh. According to a news report in Hindustan Times, ED officials investigating the case claimed that the PMLA investigation had established that Revanth Reddy was directly involved in the offence of money laundering as defined under Section 3 of PMLA and also in the acquisition and use of the proceeds of crime of Rs.50 lakh.

The report also claimed that during questioning by the ED in February 2019, Revanth Reddy made a false deposition that while he was discussing certain issues with his aide Rudra Uday Simha, they were forcibly taken away by some police personnel to a nearby apartment. However, his gunmen in their statements, did not report the occurrence of any such incident.

ED officials reportedly showed Revanth Reddy a video recording of the event wherein he was clearly seen handling the money and giving it to Stephenson. However, he was evasive in his reply and stated that it was ‘one person who seemed like him’, the report stated.