Telangana cash-for-vote scam: Supreme Court halts cross-exam of witnesses

HYDERABAD:  The Supreme Court, on Friday, ordered the suspension of cross-examination of witnesses in what has come to be known as cash-for-vote scam in which Congress MP A Revanth Reddy is the main accused.

The apex court issued the order on a petition filed by Revanth Reddy, expressing apprehension over the possibility of other witnesses being influenced by the ongoing cross-examination.

The apex court directed the ACB to file its reply within four weeks and stop the cross-examination till the hearing on the case is over. The charge against Revanth was that in 2015, on the eve of the election of members to the Telangana Legislative Council, he had approached nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson and tried to bribe him with `50 lakh in return for support to Telugu Desam candidate Vem Narender Reddy. Revanth was in Telugu Desam Party at that time. Telangana ACB caught Revanth red-handed and seized the money.

The MP recently sought a restraining order from HIgh Court to prevent cross-examination of the witnesses and when it refused to intervene, he moved the Supreme Court. Interestingly, the development comes a day after the Enforcement Directorate filed a prosecution complaint against Revanth Reddy and others in the same case before the special court that deals with cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).