YS Vivekananda Reddy Murder Case : Supreme Court To Hear Challenge To Bail Granted To YS Avinash Reddy On June 13

The Supreme Court on Friday listed on June 13 the Special Leave Petition filed against the Telangana High Court order which had granted anticipatory bail to the Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy in Vivekananda Reddy Murder case. The petition has been filed by Sunitha Reddy, the daughter of YS Vivekananda Reddy. The matter was mentioned by Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra before a vacation bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Rajesh Bindal. 

Arguing that the High Court had passed the order on basis of media reports, Luthra argued–

"They do not cooperate on summons. Then he avoids the probe on account of mothers illness. The accused is the principal conspirator in my fathers murder. My father was killed..."

The High Court had granted anticipatory bail on the ground that no direct evidence was available against Reddy to prove his participation in a larger conspiracy. 

What does the SLP say?

The SLP argues that the matter concerns a case of "clear non-cooperation" on behalf of YS Avinash Reddy who had not appeared before the CBI pursuant to last three notices. It states that even when the CBI wanted to arrest him, the same was not possible owing to obstruction caused by him and his "large number of supporters/goons" who had camped outside the Hospital, where he took shelter to avoid arrest on the pretext of his mother’s alleged health issues.

Stating that Reddy is the sitting Member of Parliament from the present ruling party in Andhra Pradesh, the SLP argues that him along with the other accused in the matter, with the aid of the State machinery and powerful people in the current ruling party, had influenced the investigation along with consistently threatening and influencing the witnesses.

The SLP proceeds to contend that–

"The accused were scuttling the investigation by getting false complaints and cases registered against the CBI Officers, witnesses were threatened and influenced with the aid of the State machinery and powerful people in the ruling party, hence the Petitioner and her mother (victims) were constrained to approach this Hon’ble Court and this Hon’ble Court was pleased to transfer the trial to Hyderabad, Telangana from Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh."

It also states that the High Court had earlier cancelled the default bail granted to accused in the matter on a Petition by the CBI on the ground that he was influencing witnesses.

Arguing that the High Court had given findings which were factually incorrect, the petition submits that the order will greatly prejudice the course of investigation. 

Background

YS Vivekananda Reddy, a member of the Indian National Congress and brother of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula in Kadapa district in 2019. The case was initially probed by a special investigation team (SIT) of the state crime investigation department, but was handed over in July 2020 to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which filed a charge sheet in October 2021 and a supplementary charge sheet in January 2022.

In November last year, the apex court had directed the trial of Vivekananda Reddy’s murder to be transferred from Andhra Pradesh to a special CBI court in Hyderabad, noting that the apprehensions raised by his wife and daughter regarding derailment of a fair trial were reasonable.