YS Viveka murder: Supreme Court notices to YS Avinash Reddy, CBI on Sunitha’s petition

HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to YSRCP MP from Kadapa YS Avinash Reddy and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over a petition filed by Dr Sunitha Reddy in connection with the YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case. Dr Sunitha approached the apex court seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the Kadapa MP by the Telangana High Court recently.

Taking up her petition for hearing on Monday, as promised earlier, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court issued notices to YS Avinash Reddy and the CBI, probing the sensational murder case for their responses. The vacation bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and M M Sundresh later listed the matter for further hearing on July 3, 2023.

The Telangana High Court granted anticipatory bail to YS Avinash Reddy on May 31, 2023 and directed him not to leave the country without the CBI's permission till the investigation was complete. It also ordered the MP to appear before the probe agency for questioning on every Saturday till the end of June.

"The petitioner shall cooperate with the investigation and appear before the CBI every Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm till the end of June 2023, and shall regularly appear as and when he is required for investigation," the High Court order said.

The petitioner shall be released on bail in the event of his arrest by the CBI on the execution of a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties for a like sum each to the satisfaction of the federal agency, the high court order had further said.

YS Avinash Reddy, a cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, is under the CBI scanner and has been questioned by the probe agency several times this year. His father Y S Bhaskar Reddy was arrested by the CBI on April 16, 2023 as the CBI suspects his involvement, among a few others including the Kadapa MP, in the case. YS Vivekananda Reddy, one of the brothers of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula of Kadapa district on the intervening night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the Assembly polls in the state.

The case was initially probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020. The CBI filed a chargesheet in the case on October 26, 2021, and followed it up with a supplementary chargesheet on January 31, 2022.