HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court will decide on Tuesday whether the BJP has the locus to file a petition seeking a probe by the CBI or any independent agency into the alleged TRS MLAs poachgate episode.
Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy after hearing the arguments of the BJP, the police and the government in the petition filed by BJP general secretary G. Premender Reddy, said on Monday that the court will first decide the locus standi of the petitioner.
The Court had passed interim orders deferring investigation in the case on the BJP petition. The Cyberabad police wondered how a political party could file the petition and objected to its locus standi.
Additional advocate general J. Ramachandra Rao argued that none from the BJP was arrayed as a party in the FIR but the BJP was espousing the cause of the three accused Ramachander Bharati, Kore Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji. It was neither accused nor the victim in the FIR or remand report. Within 24 hours after the crime came into light, the BJP approached the High Court, alleging bias and prejudice and involvement of top police officials, which is a premature move by the BJP, he said.
Ramachandra Rao wanted to know how the CBI was an independent agency, when it was following the diktat of the Union home ministry.
J. Prabhakar, senior counsel, representing the BJP, submitted that media statements by the Cyberabad police, even before seizing the offence spot, created doubts that the state police was working under the directions of TRS leadership. He said that even the Chief Minister had accused the BJP for plotting the episode.
Uday Holla, former advocate general of Karnataka High Court, representing the accused persons, submitted that TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao intended to put pressure on the courts and judiciary, by releasing videos.
The court advised another counsel, representing journalist Tangella Shiva Prasad, who is an implead petitioner in the BJP petition, not to comment on personal issues when he said the Chief Minister was targeting the Union home minister and he had bought a copter each for himself and for his legal team.
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