The Telangana high court on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to question YSR Congress party leader and Kadapa parliament member YS Avinash Reddy only after 4 pm on Tuesday, in connection with the murder of his uncle and former MP YS Vivekananda Reddy, people familiar with the matter said.
A single judge bench of the high court comprising Justice Surender Reddy gave the direction after hearing the arguments over a petition filed by Avinash Reddy seeking anticipatory bail stating that the CBI was likely to arrest him in the name of questioning in the Vivekananda Reddy murder case.
The CBI issued summons to the MP, hours after arresting his father YS Bhaskar Reddy, who happens to be uncle of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Sunday. The central agency asked him to appear before the investigating officer in Hyderabad for questioning at 3 pm on Monday.
Avinash Reddy, who left Kadapa for Hyderabad along with a large contingent of party workers, moved the Telangana high court seeking anticipatory bail by moving a lunch motion petition.
The high court, which scheduled the hearing at 2.30 pm, asked the CBI not to question the MP till it disposed of his bail petition. The CBI later sent a message to Avinash Reddy, asking him to appear before it on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}The high court, which scheduled the hearing at 2.30 pm, asked the CBI not to question the MP till it disposed of his bail petition. The CBI later sent a message to Avinash Reddy, asking him to appear before it on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Narreddy Sunith Reddyalso impleaded in the case by filing a separate petition, requesting that her version also be heard before looking into the bail petition of Avinash Reddy. The high court admitted her petition and listed it for Tuesday.
“We shall hear both the petitions on Tuesday and pass the orders. Meanwhile, the CBI should not question the MP,” Justice Surender Reddy said.
In his bail petition, a copy of which was reviewed by HT, Avinash Reddy said the CBI was trying to fix him and his father based on a confessional statement by one of the killers – Sheik Dastagiri, who had turned approver for the agency.
“There is no other evidence available with the CBI, except the confessional statement of Dastagiri. It was very clear that the CBI had coerced him to issue a statement against me and my father,” Avinash Reddy said.
He further alleged that the CBI had colluded with Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Sunitha Reddy and his political rivals and was trying to fix him in the case. He attributed Vivekananda Reddy’s murder to the latter’s illicit relationship with other women, besides financial disputes with his own family members.
“Till now, I am not an accused in the case. I was only mentioned as a suspect in the chargesheet filed by the CBI in 2021,” he pointed out, adding that it was purely a politically motivated case.
The CBI counsel, however, said Avinash was deliberately moving the high court for anticipatory bail, whenever he was called for questioning. “We want to question him only as part of our investigation,” he said.
He argued that it was Avinash Reddy, who had informed the police about Vivekananda Reddy’s death stating that it was a heart attack and tried to cover up the murder as a natural death. He played a key role in destroying the vital evidence in the case,” the CBI counsel argued.
On hearing the arguments on both sides, the judge posted the case to Tuesday for further hearing.
Meanwhile, the CBI filed a petition before the special court in Hyderabad seeking custody of Avinash Reddy’s father YS Bhaskar Reddy, who on Sunday was remanded to judicial custody for two weeks. The court will take up the petition on Tuesday.