Telangana government assails High Court order for CBI probe into BRS MLAs’ ‘poaching’ case

New Delhi: The Telangana government on Friday assailed in the Supreme Court the high court’s order for a CBI probe into alleged attempts to poach Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs, saying the allegations are against the BJP, which is in power at the Centre and controlling the central probe agencies.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Manoj Mishra adjourned the hearing on the state government’s appeal against the Telangana High Court order till February 27. The top court heard the brief submissions made by senior advocates Dushyant Dave and Mahesh Jethmalani, who appeared in the matter for the state government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) respectively, before deferring the hearing.

Dave questioned the high court order, saying, “How can the CBI investigate when the allegations are against the BJP? The central government controls the CBI.”

Jethmalani, on the other hand, said the chief minister himself was to blame for this as he had released the details of the police probe in the case to the media, casting a doubt on the independence of the investigation. “In every CBI, ED investigation against opposition leaders, information is leaked to the media,” Dave said. “Two wrongs do not make a right,” the counsel for the BJP said.