[MLA poaching case] Telangana High Court directs BJP leader BL Santhosh to appear before SIT; no arrest until further orders

The Telangana High Court on Saturday directed Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) General Secretary BL Santhosh to appear before the seven-member special investigation team (SIT) which is probing the allegations related to poaching of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs..The plea was filed by BJP State unit seeking a stay on notice dated November 16, issued by SIT under Section 41A (notice of appearance before police officer) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).Single-judge Justice B Vijaysen Reddy directed Santhosh to appear before the Telangana Police SIT complying with conditions imposed but also clarified that he shall not be arrested."It is made clear that as the SIT issued notice under Section 41-A CrPC, the noticee (Santhosh) shall not be arrested until further orders. The noticee shall comply with the conditions imposed by SIT under Section 41-A notice dated 16.11.2022," the Court directed..The Court further clarified that Santhosh should not have any apprehension of arrest as notice under Section 41A of CrPC is issued. "It needs no mention that when notice under Section 41A of CrPC is issued, arrest of a person is not required. It appears, the petitioner has apprehension that the notice under Section 41A of CrPC is issued to implicate the noticee and thereby arrest him," the Court opined.The Court also gave the petitioner liberty to seek clarification in this regard from division bench, if required..The SIT is probing the alleged role of BJP leaders' attempt to poach MLAs of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi party.On November 15, the High Court had directed that the seven-member special investigation team (SIT), which is probing the case, should not report to any political or executive authority but should instead report to the single-judge of the High Court..During the hearing of the matter on November 19, Senior Counsel V Chitambaresh, appearing for petitioner, argued that the SIT ought to have taken permission from Court, as per the direction issued in this regard in the November 15 order. He further contended that notice under Section 41A CrPC can be issued only to an accused and not to any other person and if the SIT was fair in its investigation, it should have issued notice under Section 160 (Police officer's power to require attendance of witnesses) CrPC..The State counsel submitted that the SIT has found Santhosh's role in the investigation and hence, the notice was issued to him for further investigation. Further, questioning the locus of BJP in challenging the notice, the State counsel stated that Santhosh should have filed an independent writ petition if he was aggrieved. To this, the counsel for petitioner replied that Santhosh was the National General Secretary of the BJP and, therefore, his arrest would have nation-wide ramifications..The matter will be heard again on November 22.Advocate General BS Prasad and Additional Advocate General J Ramachandra Rao represented the State. .[Read Order]