Cash for vote scam: The ball is in Governor ESL's court

As the alleged phone tapping row is escalating in both the states, Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan has been advised to resolve the cash for vote scam by Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi who pointed out the Governor has special powers to maintain law and order in Hyderabad under Section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014.

The AG said that the police of both the states should be summoned by the Governor to monitor the investigation in the case. The Governor had asked the AG’s advice on resolving the crisis when he had recently called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, the AG stated his opinion that as Hyderabad is the shared capital of both Telangana and AP, the Governor can monitor the probe as two different police forces have jurisdiction in the city.

Section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 states that the Governor shall have special responsibility for the security of life, liberty and property of all those who reside in the common capital area for the purposes of administration and the Governor’s responsibility shall extend to internal security, security of vital installations, management and allocation of government buildings, law and order.