The Hyderabad High Court on Monday dismissed an application moved by Elvis Stephenson, nominated MLA from Telangana, seeking the Judge to recuse himself from hearing a petition filed by Jerusalam Mathaiah, fourth accused in the cash-for-vote case.

In his application, Mathaiah had sought the quashing of an FIR filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against him. The ACB had arrested Telangana TDP MLA A Revanth Reddy and two others on May 31 in connection with the case.

While dismissing the petition, Justice Shiv Shankar Rao said the allegations levelled by Stephenson against the Court amounted to contempt of court and directed the High Court Registry to file a criminal contempt case against the MLA.

Rao said he is impartial and nobody can doubt his integrity. The matter will be put up before the Chief Justice of the High Court for a follow-up on filing the contempt of court case.

Citing certain events in the court during the first hearing on Mathaiah’s petition, Stephenson had filed a petition wherein he contended that he might not get justice in the case, as the court “seemed to be predetermined.”

The same court had earlier stayed Mathaiah’s arrest by the ACB until further orders. Following the ACB’s plea that the investigation is still under way, the court extended the remand of Revanth Reddy by two more weeks to July 13 in the cash-for-vote scam.

It also extended the remand of two other accused, Harry Sebastian and Rudra Udaysimha.

Bail petition

The bail petition moved by Reddy’s lawyers in the High Court, for which arguments concluded on Friday, will come up for orders on Tuesday. Reddy and the others were arrested last month for allegedly trying to bribe Stephenson to seek his support for a TDP-backed candidate in the State Legislative Council election.

The TDP government in Andhra Pradesh and TRS government in Telangana have been in a legal and political wrangle on the cash-for-vote scam over the past few weeks.

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