'Union Govt Misusing CBI & ED To Attack Political Opponents' : Dushyant Dave Tells Supreme Court In Telangana MLA Poaching Case

“We are a regional party that is fighting a national party attempting to destabilise our government. During the trap proceedings, the accused admitted that Bharatiya Janata Party toppled eight governments in this manner. They have been caught red-handed and the evidence against them is very damaging. That is why they do not want the state police to investigate this matter.”

Representing the Telangana police, Dave appeared before a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Aravind Kumar that was hearing the state police’s plea against the Telangana High Court’s order transferring a probe into an alleged attempt by BJP to poach four legislative assembly members of the ruling party, from a special investigation team formed by the Telangana government to the CBI. He asked, “How can the CBI be asked to investigate? BJP is in power at the centre. The allegations are against BJP. The CBI is under BJP.” Justice Gavai countered, “Then an SIT could be said to be under whichever party is in power in a state.” “The state police has an absolute right since the offence was committed within its jurisdiction,” responded Dave, even as he conceded that the state government would be amenable to the high court monitoring the probe by the special team.

The senior counsel also disputed BJP’s claim that the Telangana government had interfered with the investigation. The three people, Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nandu Kumar, and Simhayaji Swamy, who were named as accused in the police complaint lodged by the BRS legislators, were caught red-handed attempting to lure the four MLAs into joining BJP, Dave pointed out. “We did not invite them. They approached our MLAs and were caught in a trap. There are five hours of video recordings as proof.”

To bolster their claim that the impartiality of the probe by the Telangana police’s special investigation team was compromised due to the interference of the ruling dispensation in the state, BJP relied heavily on a press conference conducted by Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, where he released a video of the alleged incident of the three accused trying to poach members of his party. “The chief minister did not interfere with the investigation. He is the leader of the ruling party and there are attempts to bring down his government by illegal means. Is he not entitled to tell the people this? Can this be called interference?” Dave asked. Besides opposing BJP’s contention on the ground that the allegations against the BRS chief were vague and neither the party nor its leader had been made parties to the writ petition, the senior counsel insisted that petitioners had been unsuccessful in discharging the heavy burden of ‘establishing mala fide’.

Dave also accused the union government of using federal agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Directorate of Enforcement to attack political opponents. “This is the harsh reality in this country today. Please do not shut your eyes to these realities.”

He made an impassioned plea, urging the bench to not dismiss the matter at the stage of admission, saying:

“This is not about BJP or about BRS. It is about our country and our democracy. It is about that little man who has voted these legislators into power, expecting them to perform well and look after his interests for five years. But, in state after state, members of legislatures are lured away by BJP, taken on chartered planes and accommodated in several star hotels. This is a mockery of democracy, the death of democracy. Only you can stop this.”

After Dave concluded his submissions for the day, the bench conveyed its decision to post the matter on a date after the Holi vacation. Justice Gavai pronounced, “We have heard the matter for some time. However, both of us will be sitting in different combinations. Registry to obtain appropriate order from the chief justice for placing this matter before the appropriate bench.”

Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani appeared for Bharatiya Janata Party. He will begin his submissions when the matter is taken up again for hearing.

Background

On October 26, Pilot Rohith Reddy, a Telangana legislative assembly member representing Tandur constituency, lodged a first information report claiming that he was offered an amount of Rs 100 crores, besides contract works of the central government, by the three persons named in the complaint for not contesting as a BRS candidate and joining Bharatiya Janata Party instead. He also accused them of threatening to slap false criminal charges against him if 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 read with Section 34 of the IPC and under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Subsequently, a writ petition was filed by BJP before a single judge of the Telangana High Court praying for the transfer of the investigation into the case of the alleged conspiracy to poach BRS MLAs to the CBI from a special team of the state police.

On November 15, the Telangana High Court allowed the state government-constituted investigation team to continue its probe into the MLA poaching case. It 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 afresh.

On November 25, the Telangana High Court stayed the notice issued by the investigation team to the national general secretary of BJP, B.L. Santhosh, in connection with the ongoing investigation in the alleged BRS MLA poaching case. Bail was also granted to the three accused. Eventually, in a major setback to the Telangana government, the single-judge bench of the high court ordered that the investigation be transferred to the federal agency. A challenge to the decision before a division bench of the high court was also unsuccessful.

Case Title

Assistant Commissioner of Police v. Bharatiya Janata Party | Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 1995-1999 of 2023

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