Hyderabad, August 5: A court in Hyderabad has granted permission to A. Revanth Reddy, the main accused in the ‘cash-for-vote’ case and the Chief Minister of Telangana, to travel abroad. The Chief Special Judge, who oversees cases related to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), ordered the release of his passport for an official trip.
The court’s order, issued on August 3, allows the Chief Minister to visit the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and China from August 17 to September 10.
This permission comes with certain conditions, including the requirement to submit a personal bond of 100,000 rupees with a surety, provide a travel itinerary along with contact information during the trip, and submit an affidavit to return the passport by September 18 or earlier. Additionally, he must obtain political clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs.
Revanth Reddy, the main accused in the ‘cash-for-vote’ scam, had filed petitions to retrieve his passport temporarily and seek permission for travel to the UK, US, Germany, and China.
He was arrested by the ACB on May 31, 2015, while he was a legislator for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He faced allegations of bribing nominated legislator Elvis Stephenson with 5 million rupees to support TDP candidate Vem Narender Reddy in the 2015 Legislative Council elections.
After spending nearly a month in jail, the High Court granted bail to Reddy, Bishop Harry Sebastian, and R. Uday Simha. The High Court instructed Reddy to surrender his passport and cooperate with the investigating agency. He was also directed to file a petition in the ACB court before traveling abroad.
In July 2015, the ACB filed a chargesheet against Reddy and others under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. Meanwhile, Reddy’s petition to dismiss the criminal case is pending in the Supreme Court.
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