MLA poaching case: ACB court rejected arraignment of BL Santhosh, claims BJP leader

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], December 6 : In a setback to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the alleged TRS MLA poaching case, the Special Anti-corruption bureau court on Tuesday rejected the memo seeking to arraign BJP leader BL Santhosh and three others as accused in the FIR stating that they were not physically present at the place of the incident, BJP leader Rachana Reddy claimed on Tuesday.
Reddy said that the court noted that the four accused do not conform to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Speaking to ANI, the BJP leader said, "The ACB court absolutely rejected the arraignment of BL Santhosh and three others as accused into the FIR stating that the PC Act is hardly applicable, which they (SIT) claim. Because so far, absolutely no evidence or intimation of money has been given to any authority or court. They were not even present at the scene of the alleged crime. Hence, the ACB court absolutely rejected based on the fact that PC Act is not applicable."
Earlier, in a self-made video, Reddy claimed that the court clearly stated that the rejection of the memo is "procedural but also the fact remains that PC Act cannot be made applicable to the said people".
"Today the trial court, ACB special court, rejected the memo filed by the Telangana SIT, trying to arraign BL Santhosh and three others as accused in the farmhouse poaching matter. The judge clearly stated that the rejection of the memo is not only procedural but also the fact remains that PC Act cannot be made applicable to the said people. All the four people who have allegedly been sought to be made or arraigned as accused in the said FIR, including BL Santhosh, had not been present at the scene of the alleged crime, if at all any was committed," Reddy claimed in the video.
"Furthermore, they do not have direct or other correlation to immediately arraign them as accused. So, based on these grounds, the memo that was sought to be filled by the SIT Telangana to investigate the farmhouse alleged poaching matter," she added.
Earlier on December 1, the Telangana High court granted bail to three accused on certain conditions in connection with the alleged Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs poaching case.
The bail was granted on the condition of Rs 3 lakh security with two sureties. The accused will have to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) every Monday.
On November 24, the Supreme Court set aside the Telangana High Court order issuing directions to the SIT to proceed with the investigation in the alleged TRS MLAs poaching case and not report before any authority, be it political or executive.
Telangana High Court on November 15 issued various directions, including that the SIT shall submit its first report in a sealed cover before the Single Judge of the High Court about the progress of the investigation.
Earlier on October 29, Telangana High Court ordered the three accused in the MLA poaching case to surrender before the police for further investigation.
HC's order came after Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court had rejected the remand request of the three accused in the case. Cyberabad Police had moved to the HC challenging the ACB court order.
The Cyberabad Police had arrested the three persons -- Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar, and Simhayaji Swamyat -- from a farmhouse in Ranga Reddy district on Wednesday evening, after being informed by the TRS MLAs about the poaching bid, which the leaders alleged was done by the BJP.
Police released all three accused in the MLA poaching case following orders of the ACB court.
Notably, TRS had alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was attempting to poach the MLAs by luring them with money and contracts.