MLA Poaching Case: SC Asks CBI To Halt Investigation For the Time Being; Sets hearing For July

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to halt the investigation on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLA poaching case.

A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice MM Sundresh  ordered the status quo and decided to hear the plea challenging the Telangana high court judgement in July that moved the investigation from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the CBI.

“We will order status quo. Do not proceed with (CBI) probe,” the bench stated.

The accused individuals were publicly denounced and labelled as conspirators by none other than the Chief Minister (CM) of the State, and these incidents called into question the fairness of the investigation carried out by the SIT, according to a single judge of the High Court who transferred the case to the CBI in December of last year.

A division bench dismissed the appeal against this judgement in February 2023.

What is the MLA poaching case?

The investigation arises from allegations that ruling BRS MLAs were solicited about defecting to the BJP.

Three people, Ramachandra Bharati aka Satish Sharma, Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy were named as accused in the case after a complaint was lodged by BRS MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy, among four legislators, against them on October 26,2022. The trio was arrested while they were allegedly trying to lure four MLAs of the ruling BRS to join the BJP. Subsequently, they were granted bail by the Telangana High Court.

As per the FIR copy, Rohith Reddy alleged that the accused offered him Rs 100 crore and in return the legislator had to leave BRS, and contest as a BJP candidate in the next Assembly election. They had allegedly asked Reddy to bring more BRS MLAs by offering RS 50 crore each to join the BJP.

The BJP, on the other hand, claimed that the entire incident was staged with the sole purpose of defaming it.

In light of this, it moved the High Court, arguing that the case recorded with the Moinabad Police Station be transferred to the CBI or SIT for a free and fair inquiry.

SIT was already conducting an investigation at the time.

After observing that a SIT had already been created, the High Court issued directives in November to guarantee that the investigation was independent.

The SIT was disbanded and the matter was transferred to the CBI by an order issued on December 26,2022.