In a recent development, the Telangana High Court has issued a temporary order preventing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from arresting Avinash Reddy, a Member of Parliament from Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency and a leader of the YSR Congress Party. The order comes in connection with the murder case of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy. The court has directed the CBI not to arrest Avinash Reddy until the final orders on his anticipatory bail petition are passed. The case has been posted for final orders on May 31.
The court’s decision comes after the Supreme Court directed the high court to hear Avinash Reddy’s anticipatory bail petition. The court heard arguments from Suneetha, the daughter of Vivekananda Reddy, Avinash Reddy, and the CBI. Avinash Reddy, who had been summoned by the CBI to appear before them on May 22, submitted a letter to the agency requesting more time due to his mother’s ill health.
Avinash Reddy, who is the cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has been under the CBI’s scrutiny regarding the murder of Vivekananda Reddy, which occurred in March 2019. He has already appeared before the CBI multiple times this year. In his plea for anticipatory bail, he approached the Telangana High Court seeking protection from arrest.
It is worth noting that Avinash Reddy’s father, Y S Bhaskar Reddy, was arrested by the CBI on April 16 in connection with the same case. The Telangana High Court had previously scheduled the hearing on Avinash Reddy’s anticipatory bail plea for June 5. However, he approached the Supreme Court, which directed the vacation bench of the high court to expedite the hearing of his case.
Vivekananda Reddy, the brother of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula, Kadapa district on the night of March 15, 2019, just weeks before the State Assembly elections. Initially, a special investigation team (SIT) of the state crime investigation department probed the case, but it was later transferred to the CBI in July 2020. The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021, and a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022.
With the Telangana High Court’s temporary order, Avinash Reddy has received a breather from potential arrest by the CBI. The final decision on his anticipatory bail plea is expected to be announced on May 31, shedding more light on the course of the investigation into the murder of YS Vivekananda Reddy.
