SC stays Telangana HC ruling, orders CBI not to arrest Avinash till April 24

A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narsimhala expressed impatience with the interim order given by the Telangana High Court not to arrest Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy till April 25. The SC bench adjourned the hearing on a petition filed by Viveka's daughter Sunitha Reddy to April 24 and ordered the CBI not to arrest Avinash Reddy till then.

New Delhi : The Supreme Court stayed the interim order given by the Telangana High Court not to arrest Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy till April 25 in the Vivekananda Reddy murder case. A bench led by Chief Justice Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narsimhala expressed impatience with the interim order while hearing a petition by Vivekananda Reddy's daughter Dr Sunitha Narreddy.

The SC bench further ordered the CBI not to arrest Avinash Reddy till April 24 when it will hear the case once again and accordingly issued notices to the Kadapa MP. Senior lawyer Siddhartha Luthra representing Sunitha Reddy told the court that it was a very heinous murder and even though the body was lying in a pool of blood, they spread the word that he had died of a heart attack and tried to sidestep the murder.

The senior lawyer said that in this case, Dastagiri who is the accused has become the approver and after that, he was threatened. Recently, CBI arrested Avinash Reddy's father and another accused, Uday Kumar Reddy. In the case of Avinash Reddy, the Telangana High Court gave orders not to arrest him. "In addition to the political conflict, in this case, many other factors have taken place. The High Court said that the accused should be given a print copy of the questions in advance. It seems the High Court is treating the accused as a house guest," he said.

Sunitha's lawyer told the court that the CI, who was on duty at the time of the Viveka murder, was then suspended. After that, when the statement under CrPC 160 was recorded as part of the investigation, the CI refused to give his statement as he was promoted and reinstated.

To a question asked by CJI Justice Chandrachud, the CBI counsel told the bench that they are supporting the petition filed by Sunitha as they are taking some time in terms of filing. Moreover, it is stated that the person who has been granted interim orders, in this case, is the brother of the current Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Mohan Reddy. The CBI counsel further said that the agency has all kinds of evidence that the murder was committed due to political conflict.

The CBI counsel said that CM Jagan's mother had contested in the seat where the person who had been murdered earlier had contested. The CBI collected much evidence in this case and is investigating with technical assistance. The suspects were ready to give supari of Rs 40 crores to accused persons and some amount was already given, the counsel said.

The CBI lawyer revealed before the bench that all the accused met at the same place before the murder and then separated from there. After the murder, some of the accused took pictures of the deceased's body, advertised the murder as a heart attack, and according to that, wrapped the body completely in clothes and brought it out.

The CBI counsel told the bench that the suspended CI had earlier agreed to testify under CrPC 160. He changed his mind by the time he came to the court, and then he was promoted and given a posting, he said. Senior advocate Ranjith Kumar appeared for Avinash Reddy.