“Do we decide on political considerations?” the Supreme Court on Thursday asked Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy, irked by his comment alleging a political hand behind the top court granting bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha in the Delhi excise policy case. The issue at hand was a petition to shift the trial in a 2015 cash-for-vote case against Revanth outside the state, and a bench headed by justice BR Gavai took the occasion to pull up the CM for his remarks.
“If somebody has the audacity to say that we pass orders in consultation with political parties, that alone should be sufficient to entertain the transfer petition. Let him face trial outside the state,” the bench said, adding that it would take up the matter on Monday, September 2.
Earlier, the court appeared inclined to dismiss the petition, but the matter took a dramatic turn post-punch as the court, while consulting on the name of prosecutor, learnt about CM’s utterances against the top court before reconvening for the hearing.
Revanth, while reacting to his political rival K Kavitha getting bail from top court on Tuesday, raised doubts on how she was in custody for only five months, while her co-accused and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia spent 15 months behind bars. Speaking to mediapersons during a press event, Revanth alleged that Kavitha may have got bail due to a “deal” between the BRS and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre.