The Telangana High Court has granted anticipatory bail to YSRCP MP from Kadapa YS Avinash Reddy in the YS Vivekandnda Reddy’s murder case. The special vacation bench of the High Court, which had completed the hearing last week, pronounced its order on Wednesday.
The CBI and Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Sunitha Reddy had opposed the anticipatory bail. The High Court took up the hearing after the Supreme Court had expressed displeasure over the delay in considering Avinash Reddy’s anticipatory bail petition.
Avinash Reddy had failed to appear before the CBI three times this month. The MP had not appeared before the CBI in Hyderabad on May 16 and May 19. On May 16, he cited prior-fixed official engagements in Pulivendula as the reason and sought four days’ time. On May 19, he conveyed to the CBI that his mother was ill. She was admitted to a hospital in Kurnool and the MP was also staying there.
The Central agency issued a fresh notice on May 19, directing him to appear before it at its Hyderabad office on May 22. Amid reports of CBI officials reaching Kurnool for a possible arrest, he wrote to the CBI seeking exemption from appearance till May 27 in view of his mother’s condition.
Former AP minister Vivekananda Reddy was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, weeks before the elections. Last month, the CBI arrested Avinash Reddy’s father YS Bhaskar Reddy, a cousin of YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
The agency told the court during the hearing on multiple occasions that Bhaskar Reddy, Avinash Reddy and their follower Devireddy Shiva Shankar Reddy hatched a conspiracy to murder Vivekananda Reddy as he had opposed the Kadapa Lok Sabha ticket to Avinash Reddy.
Avinash Reddy has denied the allegations against him and his father alleged that the CBI ignored several key facts in the case.
