Hyderabad: The Criminal Procedure Code and the provisions of the IPC empower the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Telangana to issue notices to AP CM N. Chandrababu Naidu in the cash-for-vote scam.
According to legal experts, TD leaders cannot take shelter by arguing that the ACB is empowered to deal with only TS government employees and not with the AP Chief Minister.
C. Malleswara Rao, a criminal lawyer, said that in the cash-for-vote scam, the TS government is the aggrieved party and once criminal law is set into motion, no one can stop the investigation agency from collecting evidence.
In this case, if the TD had succeeded in bribing the TRS MLA, it would have disrupted the entire election process. That is why the ACB has invoked Section 120(B) of the CrPC which has wider scope for the investigation, he explained.
As per the Constitution and the law, Mr Naidu is a citizen of Hyderabad and he is the CM of AP. He can claim privilege or immunity in AP, but not in Telangana, the criminal lawyer added.
Sarasani Satyam Reddy, senior HC counsel, said, “There is no provision either in the Constitution or in Reorganisation Act which enables AP to have its own police stations in Hyderabad. AP CM cannot have the right to handle the law and order situation in Hyderabad though it is common capital.”
