Tag: poaching

SC asks Telangana police not to continue probe into BRS MLAs poaching case

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Telangana police not to continue its investigation into the alleged criminal conspiracy behind an attempt to poach BRS MLAs allegedly by the BJP.
The development comes after the apex court, earlier this week, asked the CBI to not begin its probe in accordance with the Telangana High Court direction.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the Telangana Police, contended before a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and M.M. Sundresh that on the last date of hearing on March 13, the matter was mentioned for hearing as no formal notice was issued. The apex court said the Telangana Police can’t continue with its probe, while issuing notice to the central agency, the BJP and others.
On March 13, the Supreme Court said the CBI should put on hold its investigation into alleged criminal conspiracy behind an attempt to poach BRS MLAs allegedly by the BJP, while hearing an appeal filed by the Telangana Police against the high court order in the matter.
The top court orally observed that the CBI should not proceed with the matter, while listing the matter for further hearing in July.
Dave had vehemently opposed transfer of probe to the CBI. The top court was informed that the case materials have not been handed over to the central agency so far. The bench said it is making it very clear that the CBI probe should not be continued while the matter is sub-judice.
Earlier, Dave had argued that the consequences of transferring the case to the CBI, which was allegedly under Centre’s control, would be serious. He had submitted that it would go to the heart of democracy.
A division bench of the Telangana High Court on February 6 upheld the earlier order of a single judge on December 26, 2022 transferring the case to the CBI. The Telangana Police had moved the apex court challenging this order.

The plea argued that the high court did not appreciate that the CBI directly works under the Centre and is under the control of the office of the Prime Minister and the Home Ministry. The state government alleged the involvement of some top BJP leaders to poach its four MLAs, was an attempt to topple the government.
The plea said: “The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in the Central government and the allegations in the FIR are squarely and directly against the said party adopting illegal and criminal steps and methods to destabilize the Government of Telangana, the Hon’ble High Court therefore could not have entrusted the investigation to CBI in any case.”
“The High Court has unnecessarily drawn conclusion that release of the CD by the Chief Minister on November 3, 2022 amounted to interference with the investigation and therefore concluded that investigation was not fair and violated the rights of accused for fair investigation.”
Three persons – Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy, named as accused – have already been granted bail.
According to the FIR, MLA Rohith Reddy alleged that the accused in October last year, offered him Rs 100 crore for leaving the BRS.
It was also alleged that they asked Reddy to bring some more BRS MLAs by offering Rs 50 crore each to join the BJP.
In November last year, the state government had formed an SIT, comprising state police officers to investigate the matter.
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#asks #Telangana #police #continue #probe #BRS #MLAs #poaching #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 17, 2023
‘Should be put on hold’, SC on CBI probe into BRS MLAs poaching case

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said the CBI should put on hold its investigation into the alleged criminal conspiracy behind an attempt to poach BRS MLAs allegedly by the BJP while hearing an appeal filed by the Telangana Police against the high court order in the matter.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and M.M. Sundresh orally observed that the CBI should not proceed with the matter, while listing the case for further hearing in July.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the Telangana Police, vehemently opposed the transfer of probe to the CBI. The top court was informed that the case materials have not been handed over to the central agency so far. The bench said it is making it very clear that the CBI probe should not be continued while the matter is sub-judice.
Earlier, Dave had argued that the consequences of transferring the case to CBI, which was allegedly under the Centre’s control, would be serious. He had submitted that it would go to the heart of democracy.
A division bench of the Telangana High Court on February 6 upheld the earlier order of a single judge on December 26, 2022 transferring the case to the CBI. The Telangana Police had moved the apex court challenging this order.
The plea argued that the high court did not appreciate that the CBI directly works under the Centre and is under the control of the office of the Prime Minister and the Home Ministry. The state government alleged the involvement of some top BJP leaders to poach its four MLAs, was an attempt to topple the government.
The plea said: “The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in the Central Government and the allegations in the FIR are squarely and directly against the said party adopting illegal and criminal steps and methods to destabilize the Government of Telangana, the Hon’ble High Court therefore could not have entrusted the investigation to CBI in any case.”
The plea further added, “The High Court has unnecessarily drawn the conclusion that release of the CD by the Chief Minister on 03.11.2022 amounted to interference with the investigation and therefore concluded that investigation was not fair and violated the rights of accused for fair investigation.”

Three persons Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy, named as accused have already been granted bail.
According to the FIR, MLA Rohith Reddy alleged that the accused in October last year, offered him Rs 100 crore and in return the legislator had to leave the BRS.
It was also alleged that they asked Reddy to bring some more BRS MLAs by offering Rs 50 crore each to join the BJP.
In November last year, the state government had formed an SIT, comprising state police officers to investigate the matter.
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#put #hold #CBI #probe #BRS #MLAs #poaching #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 13, 2023
Telangana: Supreme Court hears pleas on BRS MLA poaching case

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Hyderabad: The Supreme court bench comprising Justice BR Gavai, and Justice Aravind Kumar heard the BRS MLA Poaching case on Monday.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the state government, requested the case be transferred back to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and asked for the Telangana High Court verdict to be struck down.
He told the bench that CBI is under BJP and that it should not investigate the issue.
Earlier this month, the apex court agreed to take up a plea filed by Telangana Police challenging the high court order which upheld the CBI probe into the alleged criminal conspiracy behind an attempt to poach BRS MLAs by the BJP.
A division bench of the High Court on February 6 upheld the earlier order of a single judge on December 26, 2022 transferring the case to CBI.
The plea argued that the high court did not appreciate that the CBI directly works under the Centre and is under the control of the office of the Prime Minister and the Home Ministry. The state government alleged the involvement of some top BJP leaders to poach its four MLAs, was an attempt to topple the government.
The plea said: “The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in the Central Government and the allegations in the FIR are squarely and directly against the said party adopting illegal and criminal steps and methods to destabilise the Government of Telangana, the Hon’ble High Court therefore could not have entrusted the investigation to CBI in any case.”
“The High Court has unnecessarily drawn the conclusion that release of the CD by the Chief Minister on 03.11.2022 amounted to interference with the investigation and therefore concluded that investigation was not fair and violated the rights of accused for fair investigation,” it added.

(With inputs from IANS)
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#Telangana #Supreme #Court #hears #pleas #BRS #MLA #poaching #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 27, 2023
MLAs poaching: Telangana HC quashes state’s appeal; CBI to take over case

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Hyderabad: In another setback to the Telangana government, the state High Court on Monday dismissed its appeal challenging the transfer of the investigation into the MLAs poaching case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji dismissed the petitions of the state government and MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy challenging the order of the single judge transferring to the CBI the case relating to the alleged attempt to poach four legislators of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
The division bench ruled that the single judge bench’s order can’t be faulted and interfered with.
The division bench’s order paved the way for CBI investigation into the sensational case. The High Court did not accept the request of the Advocate General to stay the implementation of the order as the state government plans to challenge the same in the Supreme Court.
On December 27, 2022, Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy ordered the transfer of the MLAs’ Poachgate case to the CBI. The High Court had also quashed a Government Order under which a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted by the state government to probe the case.
The single judge had pronounced the order on the petitions filed by the accused priest Ramchandra Bharati, pontiff Simhayaji, and restaurant owner Nandu Kumar that they did not have faith in the SIT investigation.
The judge had also observed that the media should not have been given access to investigation material. He also noted that the state has not responded to the question who provided the Chief Minister with investigative materials.
During the hearing on an appeal filed by the state government, Supreme Court advocate and senior counsel Dushyant Dave had faulted the order of the single judge for coming to a conclusion based on apprehensions of the accused and the BJP without any material beyond reasonable doubt.

Dave told the court that once evidence was submitted to the court, it becomes a public document and such revealing of the public document by Chief Minister to the media cannot be considered as leakage of material by the investigating agency. He pointed out that while the BJP was toppling State governments by defecting MLAs from other parties across the country, there was nothing wrong about the Chief Minister of Telangana bringing to the notice of millions of voters the politics played by BJP.
The three accused were arrested by Cyberabad police from a farmhouse at Moinabad near Hyderabad on the night of October 26, 2022 when they were allegedly trying to lure four MLAs of BRS with offers of huge money.
Cyberabad police conducted the raid on a tip-off by Pilot Rohit Reddy, one of the MLAs. He alleged that the accused offered Rs 100 crore to him and Rs 50 crore each to three others to make them defect to BJP.
The state government had subsequently constituted SIT headed by Hyderabad Police commissioner C.V. Anand to probe the case.
BJP general secretary B.L. Santosh,ABharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) president Tushar Vellapally and a doctor from Kerala, Jaggu Swamy, lawyers Srinivas and Pratap Goud and Nanda Kumar’s wife Chitralekha were also summoned by the SIT for questioning.
Santosh, Tushar and Jaggu Swamy had approached the High Court and secured a stay on the notices.
The high court on December 1 granted conditional bail to the accused.
However, Ramachandra Bharati and Nanda Kumar were re-arrested by the police soon after their release from jail on December 8 in connection with other cases registered against them.
While Ramachandra Bharati was booked for holding multiple passports, Aadhaar cards and other documents, five cases were registered against Nanda Kumar for cheating and other offences.
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#MLAs #poaching #Telangana #quashes #states #appeal #CBI #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 6, 2023
World Wetland Day: Encroachment, pollution, poaching major challenges, says Wildlife Dept

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Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Feb 02: Wetlands aren’t wasteland but biodiversity hotspots which provide habitat for countless plants and animals and there is a need to preserve them for future generations, Wildlife department officials said on Thursday.
Officials told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that the Wetlands are important because they protect and improve water quality, provide fish and wildlife habitats, store floodwaters and maintain surface water flow during dry periods.
“Wetlands are unique, productive ecosystems where terrestrial and aquatic habitats meet. Wetlands play a critical role in maintaining many natural cycles and supporting a wide range of biodiversity. They serve as a natural sponge against flooding and drought, protect our coastlines and help fight climate change,” they said.
Wetland performs numerous valuable functions such as recycle nutrients, purify water, attenuate floods, recharge ground water and also serves in providing drinking water, fish, fodder, fuels, wildlife habitat, control rate of runoff in urban areas, buffer shorelines against erosion and recreation to society, they said.
They said that there is a need to reduce, reuse, and recycle your waste and trash as protecting the environment helps protect the wetlands, especially since trash can make its way into the water and the best and easiest way to protect the environment is by limiting your household waste.
Ifshan Dewan Wildlife warden wetlands (Kashmir) while talking with KNO said that most people think that wetlands are wastelands but they must know wetlands are biodiversity hotspots.
She said that Water bodies are the most productive ecosystem and there is a need to protect and restore them, that is why this day is being observed to create awareness among the public.

She said that the basic challenges before them are to save these wetlands from encroachment mainly in urban areas, throwing of solid waste in them, silt and poaching.
“Besides the sanitation and dwelling are challenges as almost every wetland in J&K is full of silt,” Ifshan said.
She added that people must understand that poaching is a prohibited activity as poaching incidents are coming to fore and recently seven poaching guns were recovered from them.
Ifshan said that around a lakh birds are present in Hokersar and other nearby wetlands which includes some new species like long tailed duck and few species of Reed Bunting bird as well which were seen for the first time after several years.
She said that around 3000 kanals of wetland were freed from the public after one time amnesty to cut down trees was given to them due to which bird population has increased.
Efforts are on to restore channels used for navigation which were blocked and so far two have been restored while work is going on to restore others as well.
She requested people to cooperate in restoring wetlands as migratory birds are our guests and we must work together to protect them—(KNO)
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#World #Wetland #Day #Encroachment #pollution #poaching #major #challenges #Wildlife #Dept
( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

February 2, 2023