BL Santosh Avoiding SIT Summons: Telangana Govt Tells High Court

Hyderabad: The Telangana Government on Wednesday told the Telangana High Court that BJP national secretary BL Santosh was willfully avoiding the notice (summons) of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the ruling TRS party MLAs poaching case.

The submission came during the hearing in the High Court on a petition filed by the BJP. The Advocate General (AG), representing Telangana government, claimed that BL Santosh had been inaccessible since November 16. “Finally, the SIT notice summoning him for questioning was handed over in his office yesterday (22-11-2022). He has been eluding the SIT and willfully avoiding the notice,”  AG told the court. 

"There are suspicions about his alleged involvement in the case (the attempt to lure four TRS MLAs into the BJP fold). His phone contains damning evidence to prove the complicity in the case. If BL Santosh does not appear before the SIT, then there are chances that evidence can be tampered with," the counsel contended.

BL Santosh ought to respond to the SIT notice in one way or the other, the High Court said while maintaining that the counsel for the petitioner should also make it clear if they wanted to challenge the issuance of the notice under Section 41(A) CrPC. The petitioner's counsel was also asked if BL Santosh needed more time to appear before the SIT for questioning.

The advocate general, arguing for the State Government, said that the truth would be unravelled if BL Santosh came before the SIT for questioning.

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