Cong T’gana chief appears before ACB court in cash-for-vote scam

Hyderabad, Aug 13 : The Congress Telangana unit President A.Revanth Reddy on Friday appeared before the ACB court in cash-for-vote scam.

Other accused Rudra Uday Simha and Bishop Harry Sebastian also appeared in the court, which recorded statements of some witnesses, including the then Assembly Secretary.

The court later adjourned the hearing to September 6.It fixed the schedule for recording the statements of remaining witnesses.The sensational case had come to light in 2015 during the elections to the Telangana Legislative Council from the MLAs quota.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had reportedly caught Revanth Reddy red-handed on May 31, 2015 when he was handing over Rs 50 lakh cash to nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson to make him vote for Narender Reddy, who was the candidate of Telugu Desam Party (TDP).The court on Friday recorded the statement of then Assembly Secretary Sada Rajaram, who was the returning officer for MLC election.

The court had on Thursday recorded the statements of Vem Narender Reddys son Krishna Keerthan Reddy and Revanth Reddys former personal assistant Saidaiah.Revanth Reddy was then a key leader in the TDP and the case had triggered a political storm.

An audio tape of TDP President and then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidus telephonic conversation with Stephenson had also surfaced.Revanth Reddy, then a MLA, was in jail for a month in the case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) later attached the bribe amount of Rs 50 lakh cash, seized by the ACB under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.In May this year, the ED filed charge sheet against Revanth Reddy, now a Member of Parliament, former TDP MLA Sandra Venkata Veeraiah, Bishop Harry, Uday Simha, Mathaiah Jerusalem, and Vem Krishna Keerthan.Revanth Reddy, who quit the TDP to join Congress in 2017, was elected to Lok Sabha from Malkajgiri constituency in 2019 elections.

The Congress leadership recently appointed him as the party chief in Telangana.