BRS MLAs’ poaching case: SC refuses to grant status quo on probe transfer to CBI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant a status quo on the Telangana High Court order transferring the BRS MLAs’ poaching case probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The ruling came on a petition filed by the Telangana Government seeking the status quo to enable the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to continue with its investigation instead of transferring the case to the CBI.

Responding to a special mention made by Dushyant Dave, the counsel for Telangana, before a division bench headed by him, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud also did not feel the need for an expeditious hearing on the petition.

While refusing to grant a status quo, he said that the Telangana High Court order would be reversed if there were really any merits in the case. Also, turning down the State’s request for an immediate hearing on its petition, the CJI felt that there was no such need. He informed Telangana’s counsel that the petition would be taken up for hearing on February 17.

The Telangana Government approached the Supreme Court after the State High Court ordered the transfer of the sensational poaching case investigation to the CBI from the SIT. The Telangana Government has been expressing serious apprehensions that evidence could be tampered and destroyed if the Central agency took over the investigation.