New Delhi: The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday an appeal challenging the grant of protection from arrest till April 25 to YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha member Y S Avinash Reddy in a case pertaining to the murder of former Andhra Pradesh Minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha took note of the submissions of senior advocate Siddharth Luthra assailing the grant of interim anticipatory bail to the leader in the sensational murder case.
“We will list it for hearing tomorrow,” the bench said. At the outset, the bench said that it will list for hearing the appeal against the interim order of the Telangana High Court on April 28.
Luthra said the high court is scheduled to pass a detailed order on the anticipatory bail plea of Y S Avinash Reddy and the petition will become infructuous if bail is granted.
He said it is a very unique case where the investigation was transferred from Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad in Telangana due to political patronage being enjoyed by the accused lawmaker. He is also related to the present Andhra Pradesh chief minister.
“Then we will hear it tomorrow,” the bench said.
Vivekananda Reddy, one of the brothers of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula in Kadapa district, on the night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the Assembly elections in the State.
The Telangana High Court on April 18 directed the YSRCP MP to appear before the CBI everyday for examination in the case, and granted him protection from arrest till April 25.
In an interim order on the anticipatory bail plea of Avinash Reddy, the court asked him to cooperate with the Central agency and appear before it daily till April 25.
The high court had directed the CBI to give a questionnaire and said the examination of the accused lawmaker shall be audio-video recorded. The high court posted the matter to April 25 and the final order on the anticipatory bail petition will be delivered on that day.
Avinash Reddy filed the anticipatory bail petition in the high court ahead of appearing before the CBI. His father Y S Bhaskar Reddy, uncle of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was arrested by the CBI on April 16 in connection with the murder of Vivekananda Reddy.
The CBI, which is investigating the murder case had issued notice to Avinash Reddy, who is Kadapa member of Parliament asking him to appear before it here on April 17 for questioning relating to the case. The MP had earlier appeared four times before the CBI.
Seeking anticipatory bail, the counsel representing Avinash Reddy had contended before the high court that there was no material to connect him (Avinash Reddy) in the case except the statement of one of the accused.
After hearing the counsels of Avinash Reddy and the CBI, the high court had adjourned the hearing on the anticipatory bail plea of the MP to April 25.
The murder case was initially probed by a special investigation team (SIT) of the state crime investigation department, but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020.
The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022.
