[BRS MLA Poaching] CM Himself Branded Accused As Conspirators, Can’t Say SIT Is Probing Case Fairly: Telangana High Court

Importantly, in its 98-page order, the Court made a categorical statement that in the political tussle between the BJP and the TRS Party, the Constitutional and statutory rights of the accused seem to have been forgotten.

The bench of Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy made these observations while dissolving the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was probing the case till now and ordered the CBI to conduct a de novo probe into the matter.

In its order, the court noted that the SIT in the case was constituted to cover up the lapses of the investigation officers, however, since the CM of the State had made public the investigation CDs / material, the same would cause reasonable apprehension in the mind of the accused about the fair and unbiased investigation, giving the court a reason to transfer the probe.

“When accused are condemned publicly and branded as conspirators levelling serious allegations by none other than the Hon’ble Chief Minister by conducting Press Meet and circulating the videos to the important Constitutional Functionaries, even before charge sheet is filed and at the initial stages of the investigation, it cannot be said that investigation is being done in an unbiased and fair manner,” the Court remarked.

The Court also questioned as to how the CM got access to the material collected by the SIT and since the state government couldn’t give any explanation for the same, the Court observed that to say that no prejudice is caused to the accused is unreasonable and unacceptable.

In these circumstances, the Court opined that serious prejudice had been caused to the accused, who are branded publicly as conspirators, thereby depriving them of their rights to effectively defend the criminal proceedings and avail their legal remedies under the law.

“These events run contrary to the fundamental concept of criminal law jurisprudence that every accused is deemed to be innocent until proven guilty,” the Court further added.

Importantly, the Court underscored that in a given case, actual bias need not be proved and it would suffice if legitimate and reasonable apprehension of bias, taint and unfair investigation is made out by the accused.

In this regard, the single judge relied on Apex Court’s ruling in the case of Babubhai vs State Of Gujarat & Ors wherein it was held that not only fair trial but an unbiased investigation is also part of Constitutional rights guaranteed under Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

Against this backdrop, the Court held that the constitution of SIT under the Government will not alter the situation, more particularly, when an authority none other than the Hon’ble Chief Minister himself has openly circulated the videos and branded the accused and members of the organised crime as conspirators.

“The entire episode and turn out of events is something unprecedented and incomprehensible and unhesitatingly, this Court holds that the accused have made out a case for transfer of investigation,” the Court remarked as it ordered to transfer the probe to the CBI.

This development comes days after the Supreme Court directed the single judge to consider the writ petition filed by three accused in the case -Ramachandra Bharti, Kore Nandu Kumar, and D. P. S. K. V. N. Simhayaji seeking the probe to be transferred to the CBI on its own merits and in accordance with the law expeditiously within a period of 4 weeks.

The background of the case

On October 26, Pilot Rohith Reddy, MLA, Tandur Assembly, lodged a first information report alleging that three accused persons met him and asked him to not contest as a candidate of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party.

Instead, he was allegedly asked to resign from the BRS and join the BJP and offered an "amount of Rs 100 crores besides contract works of the Central government".

Reddy further alleged that the accused persons threatened to foist criminal cases on him in case he did not agree to their proposal. Pursuant to his complaint, Moinabad Police Station registered an FIR under Sections 120B, 171B, 171E, and 506 of the IPC r/w Section 34 of the IPC and under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Subsequently, the BJP filed a writ petition before the single judge of the Telangana High Court praying for the entrusting of investigation of the matter to an SIT/CBI to ensure a free and fair probe.

On November 15, the Telangana High Court allowed the state government-constituted Special Investigation Team to continue its probe into the MLA poaching case, and also ordered that a single judge of the court would monitor the progress of the investigation.

However, on November 21, the Supreme Court quashed the directions passed by the Telangana High Court and directed it to decide the plea for the CBI probe moved by three accused in the matter.

On November 25, the Telangana High Court stayed the notice issued by the Special Investigation Team to BJP's National General Secretary B.L. Santhosh in connection with the ongoing investigation in the alleged TRS MLA poaching case. Earlier this month, the High Court granted bail to three accused.

Case title - Bharatiya Janata Party & Ors v State of Telangana [WRIT PETITION Nos.39767, 40733, 42228, 43144 and 43339 of 2022]

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Tel) 101

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