Hyderabad, Sep 24 (PTI) A city court on Tuesday directed Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to appear before it on October 16 in connection with the 2015 cash-for-vote case, in which he is one of the accused.

The court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge, directed Reddy and five others accused to be present on October 16 as part of a hearing for consideration of charges in the case in connection with the money laundering probe by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged cash-for-vote scam.

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The fourth accused in the case was present in court on Tuesday, while others accused including CM Reddy, were absent and their presence was dispensed with petitions (seeking exemption from appearing).

"For examination, call on 16.10.2024. All the accused are directed to be present on the next date of hearing for consideration of charges," the court said.

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On May 31, 2015, Revanth Reddy, then with the Telugu Desam Party, was apprehended by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while allegedly paying a Rs 50 lakh bribe to Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in the legislative council elections.

Apart from Revanth Reddy, the ACB had arrested some others. All of them were later granted bail.

The ACB had then claimed it had collected “clinching evidence” against the accused in the form of audio and video recordings, and recovered an advance amount of Rs 50 lakh.

The Enforcement Directorate in May 2021 filed a charge sheet against Revanth Reddy and others in connection with its money laundering probe into the alleged cash-for-vote scam.

The central agency had claimed its probe had established that the accused "committed the scheduled offence as well as the offence of money laundering by dealing with the bribe money which is nothing but proceeds of crime as per the PMLA."

The Enforcement Directorate had earlier attached the alleged Rs 50 lakh bribe cash under the PMLA provisions.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)