Telangana HC directs CBI not to arrest MP Avinash Reddy till final orders on May 31

In a temporary breather to Kadapa Lok Sabha MP Avinash Reddy, the Telangana High Court on Saturday ordered the CBI not to arrest the YSR Congress Party leader in connection with the murder of former minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy till the final orders in the petition are passed.

The vacation bench of the court which was hearing a petition filed by the MP seeking anticipatory bail posted the case to May 31 for final orders.

Following the Supreme Court’s direction, the high court took up the hearing of the petition on Friday.

The court heard the arguments of Suneetha, daughter of Vivekananda Reddy, Avinash Reddy and the CBI. Avinash, who was summoned by the CBI to appear before it here on May 22, wrote a letter to the central agency seeking time to appear before it citing his mother’s ill health.

The cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Avinash is under the scanner of the CBI in connection with Vivekananda Reddy’s murder that took place in March 2019.

He has appeared before the CBI at least five times this year. He subsequently moved the Telangana High Court with the anticipatory bail petition.

His father Y S Bhaskar Reddy was arrested by the CBI on April 16 in connection with the case.

The Telangana High Court on April 28 posted the hearing on the anticipatory bail plea of Avinash Reddy to June 5.

Subsequently, he went to the Supreme Court which directed the vacation bench of the high court to hear the case.

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, just weeks before the Assembly elections in the State.

The case was initially probed by a special investigation team (SIT) of the state crime investigation department but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020.

The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021, and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022.