YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case: SC calls HC's order protecting Kadapa MP 'atrocious'

The HC had granted the MP protection from arrest till April 25

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the proceedings before the Telangana High Court, wherein Kadapa MP Y S Avinash Reddy, an accused in murder case of Y S Vivekananda Reddy, was protected from arrest till April 25. The top court said the order directing CBI not to arrest him was “atrocious”.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha fixed the matter for consideration on Monday, after hearing senior advocate Sidharth Luthra questioning validity of the High Court's order of April 18.

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On behalf Dr Suneetha Narreddy, daughter of the deceased, Luthra said, "My father was killed, the incident was quite disturbing."

Advocate D P Singh for the CBI submitted the respondent tried to show it as heart attack.

The bench said, "We will stay the HC's proceedings and may stay the order."

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who appeared for Avinash Reddy, took the notice.

The HC had directed the YSRCP MP to appear before the CBI everyday for examination in the case pertaining to the murder of Y S Vivekananda Reddy, and granted him protection from arrest till April 25.

Vivekananda Reddy, one of the brothers of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula in Kadapa district, on the night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the Assembly elections in the State.

The plea contended the High Court erroneously has gone in to the merits of the case while passing the interim order, contrary to the law laid down by this court.

"The investigation is at a crucial stage where the CBI is investigating the alleged larger conspiracy as directed by this court and for this the CBI should be allowed to investigate freely without any restriction," it said.

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Moreover the High Court has practically derailed the investigation process at this crucial juncture without giving due importance to the date of April 30, 2023, by which time the CBI is required to conclude investigation, it added.

The petition claimed the investigation has revealed that the scene of offence was cleaned and the wounds on the body were wrapped up with bandages to give credence to the story of death due to a heart attack in the presence and at the behest of Y S Avinash Reddy, Y S Bhaskar Reddy and D Shiva Shankar Reddy, among others.