Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and three others on Monday secured relief in connection with the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) money-laundering proceedings arising from the 2015 cash-for-vote case, with the Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA setting aside the confirmation of the agency’s attachment of Rs 50 lakh.
The New Delhi-based Appellate Tribunal, headed by Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari, passed the order while allowing appeals filed by Revanth Reddy, Vem Krishna Keerthan, Rudra Sivakumar Uday Simha and Bishop Harry Sebastian.
They had challenged an order passed by the Adjudicating Authority on February 8, 2022, confirming the ED’s provisional attachment of Rs 50 lakh made on May 25, 2021.
The dispute before the tribunal was specifically over the ED’s attachment of Rs 50 lakh and not the entire cash-for-vote criminal case.
The appellants argued that the original Rs 50 lakh allegedly offered as a bribe had already been seized by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and was in the custody of the trial court. Therefore, they contended, there was no possibility of the money being transferred, concealed or otherwise dealt with by the accused.
The tribunal examined the relevant provisions of Section 5(1)(b) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and accepted the argument that the alleged proceeds were already secured in judicial custody.
Since the original Rs 50 lakh was already in the custody of the court, the tribunal held that there was no apparent possibility of the accused dealing with or transferring the money in a manner that could frustrate its eventual confiscation. It consequently found no justification for attaching another Rs 50 lakh as an equivalent amount.
The tribunal, therefore, set aside the Adjudicating Authority’s 2022 order confirming the ED attachment.
The cash-for-vote case dates back to the 2015 Telangana Legislative Council elections. The Hyderabad ACB registered an FIR on May 31, 2015, following allegations that Rs 5 crore had been offered as a bribe to secure the support of nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson in the election scheduled for June 1.
At the time, Revanth Reddy was a TDP MLA, while Vem Narender Reddy was the party’s candidate in the election. The ACB alleged that Rs 50 lakh had been offered as an advance to persuade Stephenson to vote in favour of the TDP candidate or abstain from voting.
According to the ACB, the transaction took place at an apartment in South Lalaguda, Secunderabad, where the agency arrested the accused and seized Rs 50 lakh. Investigators also collected audio and video recordings as part of the case.
Following the ACB investigation, the ED registered an ECIR and initiated proceedings under the PMLA. The agency subsequently provisionally attached an amount equivalent to the Rs 50 lakh seized in the original case.
The latest tribunal order has now nullified the confirmation of that attachment. However, the order does not amount to the dismissal or closure of the 2015 cash-for-vote criminal case. It is confined to the legality of the ED’s Rs 50 lakh attachment.
