Stephenson, daughter depose before court

HYDERABAD: Amid tight security, the third additional chief metropolitan magistrate of Hyderabad on Wednesday recorded the statement of nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson. The statement was recorded under section 164 of the CrPC in the cash-for-vote case that is currently rocking the two states of Telangana and AP.
It was the complaint lodged by Stephenson about the alleged inducements that were being offered to him by TDP MLA A Revanth Reddy to cross vote in favour of TDP’s nominee in the recent MLC elections, that triggered a series of explosive actions and counter actions in both the states.The Telangana ACB had laid a trap, caught Revanth Reddy while offering bribe and arrested him in the case. What followed later in AP and Telangana is a sequel to this episode.
In this backdrop, the ACB got the statements of Stephenson, his daughter Jessica Stephenson and friend Malcolm Taylor (in whose house the tale of inducement took place) recorded before the magistrate. Stephenson reportedly deposed about the myriad and huge inducements offered to him in lieu of his vote to the TDP nominee. The ACB, which has seized Rs 50 lakh from the scene of offence, is now probing the source of this money as well as the Rs 4.5 crore that was reportedly offered to Stephenson for voting in favour of the TDP nominee in the MLC poll slated for June 1.
Meanwhile, Justice Raja Elango of the Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday directed the ACB to file its counter to the bail plea of Revanth Reddy and two other accused in the case and posted the case to June 24 for hearing.
In a separate development, Jerusalem Mathaiah, another accused in this case, filed a petition before the high court urging it to quash the FIR registered against him in the case.