Hyderabad, Aug 29: The ACB special court has directed the investigation agency to reinvestigate the cash for vote case and submit its report before September 29 as it has found prima facie evidence against the involvement of Chandrababu Naidu. The judge has directed the agency to reinvstigate the case under section 156 (3) of Cr.PC which provides powers to the magistrate to check the police performance and monitor it besides placing the persons named in the complaint as accused in the case.
The private complaint was filed by Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy with recorded evidence to show the involvement of Chandrababu Naidu in the cash for vote case in various capacities from being the main conspirator to abettor and perpetrator.
After narrating the sequence of events in the cash for vote case, in the prayer Mr Reddy has stated that Chandrababu Naidu should be dealt with under relevant sections including the Prevention of Corruption Act as he is party to a criminal conspiracy hatched along with the main two accused and others who abetted the de facto complainant Mr Elvis Stephenson to vote in favour of their party candidate in the MLC elections.
After detailing the conversation captured by audio visual gadgets which prove beyond doubt the involvement of Chandrababu Naidu and the transcript of interview with the anchor of a national news channel, the complainant said: In spite of the fact that law is meant to curb such an illegal activity of bribing and bribery, the accused was able to make mockery of the system in spite of being caught red-handed.
Equality before the law is one of the pillars of freedom and to say that immunity from criminal proceedings against anyone who tries to bribe a Member of Legislative Assembly certainly erodes the confidence of the common man on the democratic system itself.
‘It cannot be denied that the accused being the legislator and the Chief Minister offering bribe through his stooges A1, A2 and others to another legislator of Telangana State to influence him to vote in the MLC elections is guilty of a high crime, misdemeanor and that agreement to bring about such a state of things constitutes a criminal conspiracy nor it can be denied that such an agreement which has the effect of fettering parliamentary democracy is not dangerous to the country with the attempt to purchase a member’s vote constitutes a criminal conspiracy that is calculated to sap the utility of the representative institutions at its foundations. The crime is complete when the bribe is offered or given or solicited.
Interested and influential persons should not be able to misdirect or hijack investigation so as to throttle investigation resulting into the offender escaping punitive course of law – breach of law amounts to negation of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution. After considering the 29-page complaint the ACB judge has asked the investigation agency to reinvestigate the case and submit its report before September 29.
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