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SC orders transfer of trial in murder of uncle of Andhra CM to Hyderabad
Y S Vivekananda Reddy, who was Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s uncle, was murdered at his residence on March 15, 2019, weeks before the assembly elections
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the transfer of the trial in the murder of former minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy pending in a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa to Hyderabad, saying the apprehension related be fair legal proceedings and a larger conspiracy is not imaginary. If the criminal trial is biased, criminal justice will be at stake, it added.
Y S Vivekananda Reddy, who was Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s uncle, was murdered at his residence on March 15, 2019, weeks before the assembly elections. A special team of the state Crime Investigation Department initially investigated the case before it was handed over to the CBI in July 2020 at the high court’s direction.
A Supreme Court bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna ordered the transfer of the trial after hearing a petition of Y S Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter, Narreddy Sunitha.
“It cannot be said that the apprehension of the petitioner that there may not be [a] fair trial or that there is a larger conspiracy is imaginary. Petitioner has the fundamental right to get justice,” the bench said.
It said the case is fit to be transferred to a state other than Andhra Pradesh. The bench added justice need not only to be done but also seen to be done.
The bench said all chargesheets will be transferred to Hyderabad for the sake of witnesses. It added the First Information Report alleging a larger conspiracy and destruction of evidence will be probed. The bench asked the CBI to complete the probe at the earliest independently and in an unbiased manner.
The probe was handed over to the CBI after Sunitha and her mother moved the high court. In October 2021, the CBI charged Yerra Gangi Reddy, Y Sunil Yadav, G Uma Shankar Reddy, and Shaik Dastagiri with the murder.
Dastagiri had worked as the slain former minister’s driver. He turned approver four days before the filing of the charge sheet and was granted anticipatory bail.
In the charge sheet, the CBI said election-related issues and a dispute over some land settlement led to the murder.
The CBI cited Yerra Gangi Reddy’s claim that Avinash Reddy, the member of Parliament from Kadapa, his father Bhaskar Reddy, and his associate D Shiv Shankar Reddy were also involved in the murder plan.
But the trial in the CBI court made little progress as some of the witnesses and those facing charges filed cases against the investigating officers.
This prompted Sunitha to move Supreme Court this April, saying those facing the murder charges have filed cases against the CBI officials accusing the central agency of harassing them.
Sunitha pleaded to the top court to monitor the CBI investigation, as the accused could tamper with evidence and were allegedly intimidating the CBI authorities. She accused some top police officers of pressuring her to drop her fight for the CBI probe into the murder. She said an accused has died and if the investigation is delayed, no witness would depose.
Last week, a local court recorded the statement of the wife of one of the accused seeking the “inclusion” of Sunitha’s husband, Rajasekhar Reddy, and five others in the case. She alleged the six tried to hide the actual motive behind the murder by attempting to conceal the evidence.
