High Court Grants Bail To 3 Accused In Telangana MLAs Poaching Case

The Telangana High Court on Thursday 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 condition of Rs 3 lakh security with two sureties. The accused will have to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) every Monday.

Last month on November 24, the Supreme Court set aside the Telangana High Court order which issued various 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 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 TRS MLA poaching case following orders of the ACB court.

Notably, TRS had alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attempting to poach the MLAs by luring them with money and contracts.

Following a complaint by TRS MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy on Wednesday, an FIR was registered at the Moinabad Police Station under Sections 120-B, 171-B r/w 171-E 506 r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 8 of Prevention of Corruption Act-1988.

In the FIR, Pilot Reddy alleged that Ramachandra Bharati who came to Hyderabad from Delhi, and Nanda Kumar of Hyderabad, both belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party, had met him and offered him Rs 100 crore to join the BJP.

According to the FIR, MLA Rohith Reddy also alleged that they were threatened that criminal cases will be foisted against him and raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) if they did not join the BJP.

Meanwhile, the BJP has moved to the Telangana High Court seeking a CBI probe into the allegations.

Moreover, Union Minister and BJP leader G Kishan Reddy refuted the TRS MLAs' poaching allegations and said it shows the fear the TRS is looming under and demanded the probe be conducted by sitting High Court judges.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)