Supreme Court Gives Relief to Jerusalem Mathaiah in Cash for Vote Case

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Friday gave relief to Jerusalem Mathaiah, Accused No. 4 in the alleged cash-for-vote scam of 2015, upholding the order of the then-Hyderabad High Court, which had quashed the ACB’s FIR against him. The ACB had named him in the alleged offer of a Rs 5 crore bribe to nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson on the eve of the MLC elections to exercise his franchise in a particular manner.

A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran dismissed the special leave petitions (SLPs) filed by the state and Stephenson, the defacto complainant.

The apex court upheld the High Court’s findings, observing that Mathaiah was not present at the scene of the alleged transaction and that the complaint by Stephenson did not contain specific material linking Mathaiah to the offence. The court noted that the only mention of Mathaiah’s name in the FIR was a vague reference to a phone call, with no supporting details like time or context.

The bench did not accept the arguments of the state, which submitted that the High Court had erred by conducting a "mini trial" at the stage of quashing the FIR, and ignored that the FIR disclosed cognisable offences. The complainant’s counsel similarly contended that the bribery allegations warranted further investigation.

The Supreme Court pointed out that the FIR indicated that the information was received on 28.05.2015 at 3 pm, but the general diary entry showed the date and time as 31.05.2015 and 11 pm. The FIR was dated 31.05.2015.

The bench noted that no FIR was registered on the written complaint made by Stephenson under Section 154 of the CrPC. Audio and video recordings by the ACB did not show the role of the Mathaiah, the apex court said.

The ACB had listed Mathaiah as an abettor along with then TD legislator A. Revanth Reddy and others. Mathaiah had moved the High Court for quashing the criminal proceedings. A single judge of the High Court in June 2016 quashed the proceedings against him. The ACB moved the Supreme Court in July 2016 contending that the High Court had failed to take several facts which showed Mathaiah’s abetment which could be punished under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Supreme Court concluded the hearing in the case a few days ago and pronounced its verdict on Friday.