The Supreme Court of India is set to hear a petition filed by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy seeking to dismiss a fourteen-year-old criminal case that alleges he participated in a cash-for-vote scheme during local body elections.
The FIR, registered in 2015, pertains to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party's campaign for panchayat Samiti and mandal-level elections held shortly after the state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. According to court documents, the complaint alleged that Reddy, then a senior TRS leader and former minister, offered monetary incentives to villagers in exchange for their support during the polling process.
In written submissions before the apex court, Reddy's counsel argued that the legal framework applicable at the time did not classify the act of offering a bribe as a standalone offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The relevant provision — Section 171G of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises moral intimidation or bribing in connection with elections — was reportedly read alongside the anti-corruption statute, and the defence maintains that the Prevention of Corruption Act prior to its 2018 amendment did not explicitly cover the offering of bribes by political candidates or campaigners.
The 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act was a significant overhaul that broadened the scope of corruption-related offences, introduced stricter provisions for compounding offences, and clarified that offering a bribe could indeed be prosecuted. Lawyers for Reddy have contended that applying the post-2018 legal interpretation retroactively to a 2015 case would violate the principle against ex post facto punishment enshrined in the Constitution.
Legal experts observing the matter have noted that election-related corruption cases from the pre-amendment era have often become flashpoints in Indian jurisprudence, with courts grappling with whether amendments that widen criminal liability can be applied retrospectively.
Reddy's petition comes at a politically sensitive juncture. The Telangana Congress government, led by Reddy since December 2023, is preparing for upcoming municipal elections in the state. The opposing Bharatiya Janata Party and TRS have both pressed for the case to proceed on merit, arguing that electoral integrity must not be compromised by technical legal defences.
The Supreme Court has not yet set a date for final arguments but has taken note of the constitutional questions involved and may refer the matter to a larger bench if it determines that a definitive ruling on the retrospective application of the amended Prevention of Corruption Act is necessary.
