Poaching case: Telangana HC hears arguments

The two-judge Bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji, inconclusively heard arguments on the appeal in the MLA poaching case.

Hyderabad: The two-judge Bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji, on Friday inconclusively heard arguments on the appeal in the MLA poaching case.

The court heard for about three hours the arguments by senior counsels L Ravichander and DV Seetharamurthy representing the accused in the case and senior counsel C Damodhar Reddy for the BJP State wing. The CBI also came before the court and said the SIT had not transferred the investigation material to them despite making an official request to the State Chief Secretary.

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To this, the Bench pointed out that it was seized of the matter and that the CBI could wait. It also assured the central agency that it would grant an opportunity to the CBI to make submissions.

The counsels for the accused, who argued that 37 MLAs had defected to the BRS from other political parties since 2014, alleged that the State government had no credibility to question defections. Arguing that the police were part of the pre-planned registration and execution of the case, they said the accused sought a probe by an independent agency because the State had constituted SIT in a “suspicious” way.

The Bench will continue to hear the case on January 9.