HYDERABAD: BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Monday accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of “orchestrating” an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigation into the alleged corruption in the conduct of Formula E race in Hyderabad “only to distract from the Congress government's failures, particularly betrayal of farmers under the Rythu Bharosa scheme.”
Rama Rao, named as accused No. 1 (A1) by the ACB in the case, who went to the ACB office in Banjara Hills in the morning following summons from the officials, refused to be questioned without the presence of his lawyers. When disallowed to go in with his lawyers, he handed over a written response to the officials and left from the ACB office complex entrance.
On not being allowed to be accompanied by his lawyers, Rao alleged that the Congress government was trampling on his Constitutional rights, and recalled how BRS legislator Patnam Narender Reddy too was questioned without his lawyers on the Lagcharla incident.
“The police then fabricated a purported statement that included things that our MLA never said, and then this statement was released to the media,” he said.
Rao said that the ACB should give in writing its objections to him having his lawyer accompany him. “The government can do what it wants to but I, and the BRS, will not be deterred, and will continue to expose this government's failures. Today’s drama was part of the government's efforts to divert attention from its cutting of the Rythu Bharosa amount from what was promised originally,” he said.
Senior advocate and BRS general secretary Soma Bharat Kumar questioned ACB’s stand on the presence of a lawyer during questioning.
“Article 21 of the Constitution says that a person being questioned has the right to be accompanied by a lawyer. There are genuine concerns that the investigating agencies will create their own documents following the Narender Reddy incident. Unless there are ulterior motives with respect to the questioning and recording of a statement, there is no reason for the ACB to reject the presence of a lawyer,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, several BRS leaders, including MLA G. Jagadish Reddy, slammed the Congress government over the ACB case.
“The ACB officials made KTR wait on the road for 45 minutes, and finally, had to collect his written response from their office gate where they had stopped him. People watch everything closely and understand what is happening. Revanth’s attempt to divert the attention of the public on not keeping his promise of `15,000 Rythu Bharosa to farmers has failed. What is happening is a puppet-show run by the government and we urge farmers not to fall into the government’s trap,” Jagadish Reddy said.
