Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A. Revanth Reddy challenging an order of ACB special court dismissing his request for simultaneous cross-examination of all seven witnesses in the cash-for-vote scam case.
A division bench of the Supreme Court of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S.V.N. Bhatti suggested Mr. Reddy to approach Telangana High Court where he had filed the criminal revision case seeking to set aside the ACB special court order. The matter pertains to the case of cash-for-vote reported in 2015.
Mr. Reddy maintained that if the authorities wanted to prosecute him on charge of corruption or offering bribe, they should have invoked the Representation of People Act and not the PC Act. The division bench of the SC posted this petition to December 14 for detailed hearing.
Mr. Reddy, then in Telugu Desam Party and a MLA, and two others were arrested by Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on charge of offering ₹50 lakh to TRS nominated MLC Elvis Stephenson to vote for TDP MLC candidate Vem Narender Reddy. TDP supremo and then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrabu Naidu’s name too cropped up in the case, which eventually came to be known as cash-for-vote scam.
Mr. Naidu’s name figured in the matter as ACB officials presented details of a purported telephonic conversation between him and MLC Stephenson. Mr. Naidu, however, denied his role in the matter. The ACB sleuths filed charge-sheet in the case. They cited seven witnesses.
Mr. Revanth Reddy filed a petition in the ACB special court conducting trial of the case seeking simultaneous cross-examination of all the witnesses after their chief examination was over. The special court passed an order dismissing his petition. Then Mr. Reddy moved Telangana High Court filing Criminal Revision Case.
While the matter was pending at the HC, he filed another petition in the Supreme Court seeking to set aside the special court order. Mr. Reddy also filed another petition in the SC challenging his prosecution by the ACB officials in the cash-for-vote scam case. He contended that prosecuting him under Prevention of Corruption Act was illegal.
