The SIT had issued a notice on November 16 to BL Santosh.
In leaked audio and video tapes from what Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao claimed to be a sting operation on alleged attempts to 'buy' MLAs, the accused in the case have mentioned the names of BJP general secretary BL Santhosh and other top party leaders.
The tapes, which are out in the public domain, don't have the voice, email ID, or any other identifier to link the accused men to the top BJP leaders. However, sources in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged attempt to poach TRS MLAs have indicated that they have 'evidence' in the form of documents running into up to one lakh pages. NDTV was told the SIT has been asked to keep its findings confidential, so investigators can't reveal more.
The SIT had issued a notice on November 16 to the senior BJP leader, asking him to appear at 10:30 am on November 21 before the SIT at the Integrated Command and Control Centre, the police headquarters in Hyderabad. However, BL Santosh will not appear before the SIT.
BJP sources told NDTV that BL Santosh had not received the notice that was to be served through the Delhi police, as he is not in Delhi. The court has directed the Delhi police to co-operate in the matter.
The BJP had gone to court earlier, on November 18, alleging that arbitrary and illegal notices were being issued by the SIT. The court did not accept that, but instructed that BL Santosh would not be arrested by the police here.
The SIT was constituted by the Telangana DGP and is being headed by Hyderabad police commissioner CV Anand. A senior officer in the SIT, Rema Rajeswari, was even sent to Kerala, and visited Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram to probe some leads.
The BJP, which called it "a drama scripted and directed by Chief Minister KCR, has sought a 'neutral agency like the CBI' to probe the alleged attempt to poach TRS MLAs.
The court, however, said the SIT headed by CV Anand would be monitored by the High Court. The SIT has been asked to share probe findings only with the court and not with the political executive or the media.
A court has said the SIT may serve notice under section 41, so Mr Santosh must appear before the SIT, but there is restriction on his arrest.