Supreme Court of India.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to hold its investigation into allegations that the BJP conspired to poach Telangana’s Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) legislators.
“The investigation is not to be continued while the matter is sub judice or it will become infructuous. That is the thumb rule,” a Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna orally said.
The Telangana government has argued in the Supreme Court that transferring the case to the CBI would prove ineffective as it was “controlled by the BJP”.
Also read: BRS legislators’ poaching case | CBI controlled by BJP: Telangana Government tells Supreme Court
The State had on November 9 ordered the setting up of a seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged attempt to poach the MLAs. The High Court subsequently transferred the case from the SIT to the CBI.
Three people — Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy — were already 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.
The trio was arrested while they were allegedly trying to lure the four MLAs of the ruling BRS to join the BJP. Recently, they were granted bail by the High Court.
As per the First Information Report copy, Mr. Reddy alleged that the accused offered him ₹100 crore and in return the legislator had to leave the TRS, now BRS, and contest as a BJP candidate in the next Assembly election.
They had allegedly asked Mr. Reddy to bring more BRS MLAs by offering ₹50 crore each to join the BJP.